The Danganronpa revIVial: Dreams are Undying
by Constant-Daze
Summary: Humans are selfish creatures with big dreams and want nothing more than to see them become a reality. We are also social beings, unable to function effectively without interacting with others. Why is it that we are all born like this? It's almost as though whoever created us wanted us to suffer... The Tragedy may be behind us, but that doesn't change who we really are. (SYOC)
1. Prelude & Submission Form

**The DanganRonpa revIVal: Dreams are Undying**

My consciousness slowly returned to me as I became aware of my arms laying under my head weighing down on the wooden surface as though it was made of stone. My vision was murky upon opening my eyes, though the room that surrounded me became clearer with each blink of my heavy eyelids.

The place I found myself in was a standard though poorly-lit classroom coated by the dim blue lighting. The room was a mess with chairs and desks tossed aside to the edges of the room while a desk took up the centre of the room where I was seated. Not only that but the windows were heavily wrapped with red barbed wire. The wire appeared to be so sharp and bulky that it would be impossible to open the window without hurting myself.

After finding oneself imprisoned in a foreign building, most people would jump out of their seat in panic and start tugging at the door and barred window in hopes of escape. Yet I remained seated, expecting an explanation for my predicament to present itself sooner or later.

Given what I had witnessed in the past, there wasn't much that could faze me anyway.

After resting my head on my cupped hand and tapping on the desk with a finger, I impatiently waited in the dark room for around five minutes before my suspicions were confirmed.

"Good mooooooorning sleepyhead! Rise and shine!" A sickeningly cutesy voice rung through the room as a small black-and-white bear suddenly jumping through a trapdoor, landing on top of the opposite end of the desk I was seated at.

"Oh… It's you." A sigh escaped my lips as I was honestly felt let down about the not-so-extravagant entrance of the bear. "I would ask for your autograph, but I haven't got a pen on me right now."

"Eh? Aren't you surprised to see me?" The bear bowed its head, appeared disappointed from the non-reaction. "I was really hoping for a more panicked response. I was expecting you to be all like, 'who are you?' and 'where am I?'"

"Well, you set your expectations a little high, I'm afraid." Moving through the pain, I nonchalantly turned my head back to the windows as the bear tilted its head in curiosity. "How long has it been since the Ultimate Despair was defeated? Twelve years? Your reputation isn't quite as fearsome as it used to be." Feeling the sting from the brutally honest words, my captor let out a heavy sigh.

"At least this will speed things up a bit. I'll drop the unnecessary introduction and get straight to the point!" Monokuma exclaimed, converting the frustration he was feeling into the volume of his voice. "The world's back to how it was before my debut and it has been boring the heck out of me!"

"I guess that's one thing we can both agree on…" I rubbed my eyes, trying to fend off the irritating urge to rest my eyes. Whatever the bear did to me was making it difficult to concentrate. "Let me guess. You're looking to return to your glory days." The bear let out a sinister chuckle.

"Allow me to show you what I have in store for you and the rest of the world... Tada!" A folded paper plane soared down from a dark corner of the room and towards where I was seated. My arm ached in protest when I grabbed the paper as it was passing me by. "Nothing like a bit of old-school entertainment to turn the world back on its head!"

Unfolding the paper, I was able to see that it was a pamphlet containing information pertaining to the opening of what appeared to be a highly exclusive high school. At a glance, it would have passed for an innocuous piece of advertising if it wasn't for the fact that Monokuma's face what stuck all over the damn thing.

"Guiding Light Academy..." Reading the name of the school aloud, I felt the gears beginning to turn in my head. "Say, you're not suggesting that we do the same stunt that you held in Hope's Peak Academy, are you? You should at least try to come up with something original."

Ah, the Hope's Peak Academy Saga… all those years ago, sixteen high school students were trapped inside a school. The only way to obtain freedom was to successfully kill one of their classmates while evading prosecution in the subsequent class trial. While it happened during a very early stage in my life, videos of the ordeal circulated the internet ever since. It was a brutal, yet enthralling, killing game that was so bone-chillingly terrible it was hard to look away from.

Even with the days of utter despair long gone, the memory of that game was deeply engraved in almost every person on the planet.

"Haven't you heard of the phrase 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'? The world is screaming out for a revival of my terror-filled death games amongst the brightest youths the world has to offer."

"Yawn! No-one's going to watch some recycled crap," I stated, unimpressed. "The only death games people care about these days involve cartoon characters jumping out of flying buses. What would make this game worth watching?" I continued to act aloof and disinterested, but several concerns started to pile up in my head.

There had to be something more to this plan of his. Why inform me of this killing game before it even starts? Was I even going to participate in it? If so, what value was there in warning me about it beforehand? Surely, he's not going to offer me a choice on whether to take part in the game or not… And was I the only person he's spoken to about this?

"You want to know how I plan to make this the biggest one yet?" Monokuma gave another one of his skin-crawling chuckles. "Allow me to show you what I have in store for the lucky graduate!"

I heard a thud that came from across the room under the cover of darkness, then another, closer this time. The sequence of thuds sped up and became softer until the object was rolling into the light from a dark corner of the classroom.

After waiting for my eyes to focus on the approaching object, I saw a small sphere slowing to a stop before my foot. I took the object with one hand and looked at what appeared to be a small globe of the world, which bore two clear differences. Inspecting the entire surface of the item, I could see that the oceans were white while the land was filled in black. Also, the continents were divided by red lines, with each one housing the terrifying red eye of Monokuma.

This… was the prize?

It took me a moment to understand what my captor was trying to tell me, but when it all came together, I immediately dropped my act. My grip unconsciously tightened on the small globe as the pain that plagued me felt to have slightly lifted from my body.

"Tehehe... I can see your eyes lighting up! I bet you don't think that I'm washed up now!" The bear covered its mouth with their paw and giggled like a sickening-sweet schoolgirl. Ignoring him, I gazed upon the globe, intrigued.

"Are you even capable of granting this to the winner? If so, why grant such a prize in some silly game?"

"Call it whatever you want, but I see nothing wrong with giving my students an iddy widdy bit of motivation to really get things moving!" I glared sceptically at the bear, but he didn't seem to care about how idiotic I thought he sounded. "Of course, I would love to go on my merry way and set things back to the way they were… but on the other hand, I can't bear the idea of missing out of the thrills that I use to get in the good old days. That is why I am promising to give my power to whoever is able to outwit the other students."

I listened quietly to the robotic bear, fingers still wrapped around the small sphere model. I could tell that a pitch was about to be made so I perked up my ears and listened carefully.

"The thing is, this prize is far too valuable for me to just give away. So that is why... you will be joining this game on my behalf." Monokuma's tone in his voice swiftly went from sickeningly innocent to dark and malicious in a matter of seconds. "If you were to outlast your classmates, I will be free to continue my iron-fisted rule and plunge the world into an even deeper despair than anyone has ever seen before!"

"I'm game."

"Wait, already!?" The bear's evil monologue ground to a screeching halt as it looked blankly into my eyes. I simply shrugged.

"I'll try anything thrice. Besides, that graduation gift is too good for me to pass up. I take it that while you go ahead and do your thing, I'll be kicking back and enjoying all the pizza life has to offer... or maybe I should be devoting myself to hamburgers?" I was genuinely bothered as I placed my hand on my chin in thought. "I suppose I could worry about that when I get there."

"You're talking like you've already won. Just so you know, I won't be pulling any shady stunts to make things easy on you! I want this contest to be as fair as the skin tone of a teenaged basement-dweller!"

"You can stack the odds against me for all I care." Slamming the globe on the desk, I looked my captor dead in its unfeeling eyes to show that I was every bit serious. "Regardless of what stands in my way, that prize is as good as mine."

A tense pause extended between me the and the robotic bear before the creature of despair cackled wickedly. As I glared at Monokuma, his red eye glowed menacingly as he locked eyes with me.

"How wonderful! I'm sure that you'll help make this game one to remember... Ultimate Enigma."

* * *

The sound of the phone vibrating on the wooden bedside table woke the sleeping girl on the nearby bed. After another restless night, the teenaged girl reached grumpily for the noisy device, doing her best to move as little as possible as she does so.

Looking through a half-closed eye, the weary girl managed to switch on the alarm to snooze despite her vision being blurred. She thoughtlessly dropped her phone back on the table and lazily rolled to her opposite side, facing away from the phone as she curled up into a ball from beneath her messy bedsheets.

Just as the young girl was about to drift back into a slumber, she felt her stomach grumble, pleading for her to get something to eat. Her friends had always told her how grouchy she gets whenever she's hungry, which explained why she didn't wake up in the best of moods.

With an annoyed sigh, the girl reluctantly rose from her mattress and planted her feet on the coarse carpet that lined the bedroom floor. Grabbing her wire-framed glasses from beside her phone, she walked up the mirror on her desk before placing them upon the bridge of her nose.

After rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Hiroko Soma finally looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her light-brown hair flowed down from her scalp in a tangled mess around her lightly-toned face. The hair fell just out of reach of her slender shoulders where her slightly-oversized pink top hung over her torso.

Hiroko's emerald-coloured eyes found themselves fixated on the several brown strands that stood over the rest of her hair in arcing cluster. Instinctively, she licked the palm of her hand and tried to flatten the strands only for it to return to its original position. It gave the illusion that the short girl, who stood at 5'3", was taller than she really was but she otherwise hated her ahoge.

Seeing her frowning face in response to her hair's defiance through the mirror, Hiroko firmly slapped herself in the face with both hands to snap herself out of that negative state of mind.

She had to start thinking more positive. How were things going to get better if she always got stuck in a rut whenever she woke up?

After managing an awkward smile to herself in the mirror, Hiroko snatched the black hair tie from her desk and headed out of her room in the direction of the kitchen. As she descended the steps while hastily tying her hair in a ponytail, she could hear the sound of the television playing form the living room. It sounded to Hiroko that her aunt left it on when she rushed off to work earlier.

After tidying the bangs over her ears and forehead so it didn't get in the way of her eyes, Hiroko poked her head in the fridge in search for any leftovers from the previous day as the morning news could be heard in the background through the voice of the female newscaster.

 _Government officials have today announced that they will not backflip on holding a military parade despite the public raising concern over the event. The Prime Minister says he considerers the parade as a necessity after the latest attempt to form a treaty that would disarm nuclear warheads worldwide fell through yesterday evening. He assures the public that the display is not an indication of an approaching war, but merely a celebration of the anniversary of the rebuilding of the nation after overcoming The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History._

 _The announcement comes in the wake of a second suicide bombing in as many weeks hit the nation's capital, killing four people and injuring a further nine. Public Safety is yet to determine whether the attack is related to the Tragedy._

Not wanting to hear anymore, Hiroko switched off the television. She hardly had any memories during the time of the Tragedy, though she still dreaded hearing about the event that was so awful that her aunt wouldn't even speak of what she saw during that time.

Then… there was the thing with her parents…

Hiroko was quick to halt her train of thought as she felt a dull pain in her chest. The less she thought about that stuff, the better.

Failing to find what she was looking for, Hiroko eventually had to settle with a loaf of bread that was left in the freezer. As she waited for the bread to thaw on the unkempt counter, she noticed that her aunt left something on the dining table.

Next to a notepad which bore a hastily scribbled "Congrats!" was a letter addressed to her. The crest that was imprinted in the corner of the envelop meant that it could only be one thing.

Hiroko was overcome with conflicted feelings of excitement and nervousness as she opened the letter and viewed its contents. Alongside an orientation brochure was a letter:

 _Ms Hiroko Soma_

 _I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected to attend Hope's Peak Academy as a member of the 88_ _th_ _class. Your talent as the Ultimate Seeker has been verified by our scouts and I speak on behalf of the staff when I say that we would love to have you here._

 _At Hope's Peak Academy, we vow to right the mistakes of our past by contributing to bringing a bright and prosperous future for our students as well everyone outside of the walls of our academy. We believe that you have the potential to bring great hope to the world through your talent and we will make it our goal to see that you use your gift to the fullest._

 _The details to your orientation are outlined in the accompanying brochure. Congratulations on your admission and I hope to see you there._

 _Makoto Naegi -_ _Principal of Hope's Peak Academy_

There were rumours online that the newest class of Hope's Peak Academy included someone with the title of the Ultimate Seeker and her friends had been convinced that it was referring to her, but Hiroko never really let herself consider the possibility. Sure, she had been called upon to track down missing persons, fugitives and valuable resources and boasts an almost perfect rate of success, but she wasn't a household name or particularly skilled. She'd always relied on her gut whenever she was needed for a job so she didn't feel all that deserving of the opportunity to attend the most prestigious school in human history.

Hiroko stopped to consider whether it was better for her to turn down the invitation. Even with all the time that had passed since the Tragedy, students had chosen to decline from attending the school due to the role it played in causing humanity's momentary downfall.

Confused, Hiroko read through her acceptance letter multiple times as she remained indecisive. Eventually, her gaze remained focused on a handful of words that strongly resonated with her in a way that she couldn't immediately:

 _We believe that you have the potential to bring great hope through your talent…_

Hiroko wanted to believe that she could make a positive difference to the world too. She wanted to believe that the fear she sensed from other people from the world they were caught up in could be relieved with her talent more than anything, yet she didn't know how.

That's right. She had to think positively!

With that, Hiroko nodded to herself with purpose. This was the opportunity she needed to prove to herself that she could make a difference. Despite the nervous sensation that remained in her gut, she had made up her mind. Hiroko Soma was going to attend Hope's Peak Academy…

* * *

That was the moment was what led to Hiroko Soma, the Ultimate Seeker, got involved in one of the most brutal human events ever witnessed in recent history…

 **The Killing School Nightmare**

A merciless killing game with everything to gain… orchestrated by the very same sadistic creature that hosted the killing games of old.

Before exposing yourself to this tale of deceit, betrayal and blind ambition, I pose a question for you to ponder:

 **How far will you go to see your dreams come true?**

* * *

A/N:

Thanks for reading the first chapter of my first attempt at a Danganronpa story. If you've made it this far into the chapter, it probably means you have some interest in submitting a student for the story. Since I gave you all a decently long prelude, I'll keep this brief. Below are the guidelines and character submission form. If there's any question about the story or submission process, don't be afraid to ask. Until next time!

 **Guidelines and Notes about character submissions:**

1\. The cast will be made up of at least 16 characters with me creating two of the students.

2\. The Killing School Nightmare occurs twelve years after the Killing School Life that took place during the first game. You may or may not consider this as important when creating your character's personality and backstory.

3\. Be mindful that the main theme of this story will be ambition and its potential to bring out both the best and worst of people. While it's not compulsory for all characters, I will look to include students who help in exploring this theme during the story.

4\. Avoid submitting characters that are present in other ongoing or complete stories. I want the story to feature unique students that won't have any preconceptions based on other fan works. **(Revised. Please read the notice in chapter 2 for details)**

5\. Don't be afraid to go into great detail on your submission sheet. The more you have written, the easier and more likely it would be for me to incorporate them in the story.

6\. Submit your characters through PM with the subject titled "SYOC - *Character's full name*/*Character's talent*". Submissions posted in the reviews will not be considered.

7\. Each creator is free to submit up to three characters, though no more than two will be accepted into the cast from each creator.

8\. The sheet will be available to copy/paste from my profile for everyone's convenience.

9\. No deadline will be set for the time being. I'll likely provide at least one update before finalising the cast.

 **Killing School Nightmare Application Form**

\- BASIC INFORMATION -

Name:

Talent:

Gender: (I'm open to including non-binary characters.)

Age:

Birthday:

\- APPEARANCE -

Physical Appearance:

Height:

Weight:

Casual outfit:

Swimwear: (optional)

\- BACKGROUND -

Personality:

Backstory:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Desire/s:

Fear/s:

Qualities they like in people: (What sort of classmates would your character like/respect?)

Qualities they dislike in people:

Qualities of others that they are romantically attracted to: (Optional)

Quotes: (Optional. eg. Greetings and starting a rebuttal showdown during the class trail. Any other quotes that would help paint a picture of the character would be much appreciated.)

Other: (Anything worth mentioning about the character that doesn't fit the previous sections can go here.)

\- KILLING GAME -

Strengths: (What edge may the character have over others in the Killing Game?)

Weaknesses: (And the disadvantages?)

Feelings towards the Killing Game: (Would their perception of it change if the winner was promised to receive anything they wanted?)

Game Strategy: (Write the character's strategy to win the Killing School Nightmare, even if your character may not normally be the sort to become blackened. What sort of person would they target as the victim? Would they put their time into trying to escape or end the killing game? Etc.)

Killing Motive: (What would motivate the character to kill one of their classmates?)

Abstaining Motive: (What would convince the character to not give in to the desire to kill?)

Fate: (Rank the likelihood of your character's fate in your opinion and provide some reasoning for your choices. The potential fates are victim, blackened, mastermind and survivor.)

Investigation role & effectiveness: (Will the character cooperate with others? Etc.)

Class trial role & effectiveness:

'Broken' State: (Optional. Will the character act differently when they are guilty and cornered during a class trail?)

Execution: (Optional. Provide the name and a description of the character's execution in the event that they were found out to be the blackened.)

Free Time Events: (How would they interact with other classmates? What would they talk about?)

Character Growth: (Optional. What changes may the character undergo during the course of the killing game?)

Other: (Anything worth mentioning about the character's actions/mentality during the game that doesn't fit the previous sections can go here.)


	2. MiniMono v1

A/N:

Welcome to the MiniMono, dear readers. Here, you can view the school rules and profiles of each Ultimate taking part in the Killing School Nightmare. Right now, it's pretty bare-bones but as the story progresses, the profiles' FTE Notes section beneath each of Hiroko's classmates will begin to grow and she takes part in more Free Time Events. It will serve a nice reminder of Hiroko's relationship with her classmate when I inevitably upload a new chapter after a six-month break (not by choice, of course).

For those of you who are new to the story or have stumbled across this chapter before reading all the latest ones, here's a spoiler warning:

 **Warning: The following chapter contains spoilers that will become more severe as the story progresses. Continue at your own risk!**

And with that other the way, I present to you… your own MiniMono! Be sure not to break any of the school rules or you'll regret it.

* * *

 **Guiding Light Academy Official School Rules**

* * *

 **1\. Students of the Guiding Light Academy are free to spend the rest of the foreseeable future as a valued member of the school community. Graduation, and escape from the academy, could only be obtained by murdering a fellow student and avoiding blame from the other remaining classmates during the class trial that follows.**

 **2\. Students are free to venture anywhere on the school grounds and its surroundings without limitations. Go out and explore to your heart's content!**

 **3\. The nighttime announcement is broadcast at 10 PM every day. From this time, entry into the school cafeteria and gym is prohibited until the morning announcement at 8 AM. The water will also be shut off during the nighttime period. Be sure to get plenty of rest during this time.**

 **4\. Students are forbidden from conducting acts of violence towards Principal Monokuma or the members of the school's Board of Directors.**

 **5\. Principal Monokuma will not directly harm students or tamper with any evidence in crime scenes.**

 **6\. Do not break your MiniMono. Your MiniMono will be an important tool during your time at the school and was incredibly expensive to manufacture!**

 **7\. Each MiniMono contains information of its owner, including the owner's full name and Ultimate talent. In the interest of privacy, do not allow other classmates to view the device's display screen under any circumstance.**

 **8\. To prevent further instances of school property theft,** **any school property from the storage room is prohibited from being brought into a student's living quarters.**

 **9\. Any violation of the rules will lead to immediate punishment, so be on your best behaviour!**

 **10\. Most importantly, have fun… as failing to do is also a punishable offence in the event that the game starts to grow dull.**

 *** Rules may be added or altered wherever the school's Board of Directors sees fit.**

* * *

 **Student Profiles**

* * *

 **Hiroko Soma**

Status: Alive

Birthday: September 19

Eye colour: Green

Hair colour: Brown

Height: 5'3

Likes: Romance Novels

Dislikes: Terrorism

Talent: Ultimate Seeker

FTE Notes:

Polite and considerate, Hiroko is always working hard to become well-liked by everyone she meets. She sorely lacks confidence in herself, only made worse when comparing herself to her more charismatic and accomplished classmates. But no matter how bleak things may seem, she will do what she can to hold onto her positive mindset.

Creator: **Constant-Daze**

* * *

 **Aaron Epreuve**

Status: Alive

Birthday: July 24

Eye colour: Blue

Hair colour: Silver

Height: 6'0

Likes: Coffee

Dislikes: Laziness

Talent: Ultimate Fencer

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Daisuke Daijouji**

Status: Alive

Birthday: March 8

Eye colour: Blue

Hair colour: Pink

Height: 5'9

Likes: Red Velvet Cakes

Dislikes: Motor Vehicles

Talent: Ultimate Mancala Pro

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Haijo Takumi**

Status: Alive

Birthday: March 1

Eye colour: Grey

Hair colour: Black

Height: 5'9

Likes: Sporting films and anime

Dislikes: Mushrooms

Talent: Ultimate Ice Hockey Player

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Haru Mitsuka**

Status: Alive

Birthday: November 16

Eye colour: Green

Hair colour: Black

Height: 5'6

Likes: Travelling

Dislikes: Skyscrapers

Talent: Ultimate Thriller Novelist

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Hayate Kamukura**

Status: Alive

Birthday: October 10

Eye colour: Blue

Hair colour: Black

Height: 5'9

Likes: Spontaneous social outings

Dislikes: Spoilsports

Talent: Ultimate Prankster

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Julia Caesar**

Status: Alive

Birthday: July 12

Eye colour: Blue

Hair colour: Blonde

Height: 5'8

Likes: Lions

Dislikes: Being given orders

Talent: Ultimate Centurion

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Mako Shinjiro**

Status: Alive

Birthday: June 2

Eye colour: Magenta

Hair colour: Blonde/Purple

Height: 5'6

Likes: Fizzy drinks

Dislikes: Budgeting

Talent: Ultimate Artist

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Miyako Iwashimizu**

Status: Alive

Birthday: February 9

Eye colour: Brown

Hair colour: Brown

Height: 5'5

Likes: Classic literature

Dislikes: Robots

Talent: Ultimate Puppeteer

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Mizuko Suchu**

Status: Alive

Birthday: August 23

Eye colour: Blue

Hair colour: Cyan

Height: 5'11

Likes: Pepperoni pizza

Dislikes: Walnuts

Talent: Ultimate Marine Biologist

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Ntombi Thulile**

Status: Alive

Birthday: August 18

Eye colour: Violet

Hair colour: Black

Height: 5'10

Likes: Night walks

Dislikes: Heavy metal music

Talent: Ultimate Graffiti Artist

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Rat**

Status: Alive

Birthday: August ?

Eye colour: Brown

Hair colour: Black

Height: 5'2

Likes: Free food

Dislikes: Loud noises

Talent: Ultimate Rodent Tamer

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Rosamie de Vera**

Status: Alive

Birthday: December 1

Eye colour: Dark Brown

Hair colour: Black

Height: 5'10

Likes: Punctuality

Dislikes: Spicy food

Talent: Ultimate Midwife

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Taira Tekami**

Status: Alive

Birthday: November 1

Eye colour: Red

Hair colour: Black

Height: 5'2

Likes: Halloween

Dislikes: Diet soda

Talent: Ultimate Exorcist

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Tanzo Burckhard**

Status: Alive

Birthday: November 1

Eye colour: Green

Hair colour: Blonde/Black

Height: 6'6

Likes: Historical conflicts

Dislikes: Hospitals

Talent: Ultimate Military Tactician

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Touma Torisaki**

Status: Alive

Birthday: January 5

Eye colour: Blue

Hair colour: Brown

Height: 5'10

Likes: Meditating

Dislikes: Small talk

Talent: Ultimate Stage Actor

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **Yajima Robin**

Status: Alive

Birthday: April 20

Eye colour: Red

Hair colour: Blonde

Height: 5'7

Likes: Honesty

Dislikes: Herbal teas

Talent: Ultimate Archer

FTE Notes:

-Empty-

Creator: **-REDACTED-**

* * *

 **? ?**

Status: Alive

Birthday: December 21

Eye colour: Grey

Hair colour: Blonde

Height: 5'6

Likes: Financial Benefits

Dislikes: Bugs

Talent: Ultimate Enigma

FTE Notes:

Very little is known about this individual outside of the fact she is competing in the killing game on Monokuma's behalf. What possible reason could anyone have for wanting to help Monokuma bring back the Tragedy?

Creator: **-REDACTED-**


	3. Prologue: Part 1

**Prologue: From Ambitus Dreams to the Ultimate Nightmare: The Revival of DanganRonpa, Part 1**

When Hiroko eventually came to, she immediately noticed the weight pinning her to the cold, hard ground. She opened her eyes to find that she was lying face down on what appeared to be a wooden floor, though it was difficult to be sure as she wasn't wearing her glasses.

The teenaged-girl was momentarily stunned as she tried moving around as best as she can in the darkened room. How did she end up in this situation? No matter how and hard Hiroko thought, her memory yielded no answers for her.

Growing claustrophobic in the tight space she found herself in, Hiroko used her tired limbs to lift herself off the floor as the pile of books above her tumbled down her back. She breathed in the stale, musky air as she blindly around the room.

Just great, she thought to herself. Moments like this is why she hated her glasses…

Not allowing herself to panic, Hiroko quickly crawled on her hand and knees, shifting her hands through the old books as she tried feeling for her thick rectangular frames in the hopes that it was in the room with her. Luckily, it barely took her twenty seconds before her fingertips brushed up against a glass object. At least it was comforting to know that her peculiar talent hadn't abandoned her.

Finally retaining her vision upon putting on her glasses, Hiroko was able to see that she was in a small storage room of sorts. The shelves that lined the walls were mostly populated by other books from the ones that covered the floor. She wasn't able to make out the titles on the covers due to the lack of lighting, though that wasn't at the forefront of her concerns.

Hiroko found that the source of the room's near-useless lighting came from the cracks that outlined the room's only exit. Feeling lightheaded as she got to her feet, the Ultimate Seeker stepped over the aged books and placed her fingers into the door handle. She tugged in an effort to slide it open, only to find that it hardly budged.

"What?" Hiroko began to worry again as she tried pulling harder at the door without any success. The door was jammed shut and no matter how much she tugged at it, she couldn't move it with her feeble strength.

It was only when her hands started to cramp up from the pulling that she had to stop. Hiroko searched the cramped room for anything that she could to pry the door open but even her extraordinary searching abilities couldn't reveal anything useful in the intense darkness.

Exhausted with a sense of dread building up inside of her, she resorted to the only course of action she could think of.

"Hey! Is there anyone out there?!" Hiroko started banging her hands against the door as she pleaded as loudly as she could. "Please! I want to get out of here!" She continued to call out, making as much noise as she could as she hoped that someone could hear her.

Ten minutes later, Hiroko felt her chest tighten as a tingling sensation ran down her arm. The small girl immediately stopped her cries for help as she looked down at her hands with shallow, quickening breaths

No… This can't be happening to her! Not now…

Before she knew it, Hiroko pressed her back on the door and slid into a seated position of the floor as one of her panic attacks took a tight hold of her. She remained motionless as she broke into a cold sweat and was became overwhelmed by her apathetic thoughts.

Did anyone even know where she is right now? What if no one came by to save her? Is she going to die alone in this unknown place?

The feeling of despair that she was all too familiar with was like poison running through her veins as she pulled her knees over her chest in defeat. The memories that she'd rather forget returned to the surface, effectively paralysing her. She couldn't do anything but sob into her thigh-high socks as her mind was caught in a dark, bottomless spiral.

"Are you okay it there?" A masculine voice rang out from the other side of the door, snapping Hiroko out of her poor mental state. She practically leapt to her feet as she noticed the potential rescuer.

"I-I can't get out!" Hiroko wiped her eyes of the last of her tears as she hoped whoever was there didn't hear her crying. "Can you get the door to open!" Without responding, the person on the other side of the door shook the wooden barrier that had the Ultimate Seeker trapped.

"Damn! It looks like it's jammed." The person gave the door a few more tugs before speaking up again. "Are you able to help me with this? Maybe we can force it open if we pull on it together."

"I'll try!" Hiroko pushed herself onto her feet and placed her fingertips back inside the door handle. "I'm ready."

"We go on three. One, two… three!" After the boy finished counting up, the teenaged girl tugged hard on the door. The combined strength of the pulls from either side of the door proved to be enough as the wooden blockage suddenly slid aside, taking Hiroko with it.

"Ah!" The door's sudden acceleration caused the Ultimate Seeker to lose her footing. She ended up tumbling into a nearby bookcase, triggering an avalanche of books that the poor girl was unfortunate enough to feel the full wrath of.

It was fair to say that today wasn't her day.

"Hey! Are you hurt?!" With light streaming in from outside the cramped room, Hiroko was able to get a good look at her rescuer. The boy looked down at the book-covered girl through his gentle blue eyes as he extended a somewhat pale hand. He wore an unbuttoned blue cardigan over a white dress shirt and black tie. His tan-coloured pants were accessorised with a black belt bearing a silver buckle and his black shoes completed the boy's attire.

At least, it would have had he not had a white face mask sitting slightly towards the right side of the top of his head amongst his short, sandy-brown-coloured hair. The mask had a smiling expression that immediately reminded Hiroko of something that would be used in theatre.

"N-No… I think I'm okay." Hiroko grabbed the young boy's hand as he helped lift her out from the books and back onto her feet. Getting a better look at him, Hiroko noticed that he most likely had the age of a high school student, just like her.

The boy led Hiroko out of the cramped space and into the larger room, which appeared to be a regular classroom at a glance before he released her hand.

"I'm sorry about that," the male teenager apologised as he ran his fingers through the hair at the back of his head. "I should have gotten something to pry the door open instead of having you force it open."

"I-It's not your fault! If I didn't need your help, that never would have happened." Feeling thankful enough just to have her freedom, Hiroko was quick to respond. "Ah! I should properly thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't find me, so… thanks." The green-eyed girl smiled awkwardly at the boy, who responded in kind, albeit in a more confident and charming manner.

"An exchange of names will be more than enough thanks. My name is Touma Torisaki. I'm a student of Hope's Peak Academy, though… something tells me that I'm in the wrong school." The boy looked around the classroom with slight discomfort as his name started to ring bells in Hiroko's mind.

"Did I hear that correctly? You said your name was Touma Torisaki, right?" Hiroko looked up admirably at the taller boy as she showed off her knowledge of him. "My friends are huge fans of yours. You're the Ultimate Stage Actor, though they've always said that you're talented enough to make it to Hollywood."

"Did they really say that? I'm flattered." Touma wore an embarrassed grin briefly before reverting to his usual warm expression. "Anyway, I'm glad to make your acquaintance."

* * *

Touma Torisaki

The Ultimate Stage Actor

* * *

In truth, Hiroko knew more about Touma than she was willing to admit to him. It was true that her friends were the ones that brought the young stage actor to her attention, but she became a fan of his as well. Even if she wasn't usually the sort to obsess over celebrities, the talented actor always had that air of mystery surrounding him that Hiroko couldn't help but be intrigued by. It became clearer as she examined him that the boy was the same person she'd admired back in middle school, which only served to make Hiroko more nervous.

"So, do you mind introducing yourself?" Touma raised an eyebrow as he interrupted Hiroko from her trance.

"I-I'm sorry. I was…" Noticing that she was getting flustered, Hiroko forcefully shut her mouth to stop herself from talking before she could blurt out something embarrassing. "N-Nevermind. I'm Hiroko Soma. I also go by the Ultimate Seeker… though it's not as interesting as it might sound."

* * *

Hiroko Soma

The Ultimate Seeker

* * *

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Hiroko lowered her eyes from the actor. It was only then when she took notice of her clothing.

Resting over the girl's shoulders and covering parts of her forearms and back was a white shawl with a strip of magenta just inside of the cloth's edges. A deep blue sash ran beneath the shawl's collar and was tied in a bow over Hiroko's chest to keep it in place. Beneath the shawl was a long-sleeved magenta shirt that fitted firmly over her petite figure. Both her skirt and thigh-high socks were predominantly white with the same magenta stripe pattern as the shawl. Her polished black shoes and rectangular black-framed glasses were the final touches that round off what was more-or-less an ordinary school uniform.

It was an outfit that she never wore in her life before waking up in that dark room, though she didn't mind it all that much. Hiroko found it cute enough and it fitted her fairly well. On the other hand, her chocolate brown hair was in its usually pony-tail-and-fringe hairstyle with that rebellious ahoge of hers.

"So you're a Hope's Peak Academy student as well? Strange." Touma spoke in a hushed voice as he looked off towards the corner of the room. "I'm certain that I would have remembered a cute girl like that if we went to the same school."

"Huh?!"

"Oh, don't mind me. I was just thinking aloud." Touma smiled at her in a way that made it obvious that he was intentionally teasing her. It sounded like he was flirting with her, but Hiroko wasn't ready to take it as praise. Sure, her friends had commented about her nicely curved figure whenever they wanted to poke fun at her during discussions about boys, but she couldn't get past the fact that she was so plain… especially for an Ultimate.

Touma chuckled as Hiroko failed to keep herself from pouting angrily at the actor, though his expression quickly turned serious again.

"But, now that I think about it, I don't remember any of my classmates at all."

"I… think it's happened to me as well," Hiroko spoke after she was able to calm down. "I clearly remember getting my invitation from the academy and going to the opening ceremony… but nothing more recent than that."

"It's not just me then…" Touma appeared troubled initially, but he didn't allow himself to dwell on that realisation for long as he looked expectantly at the gifted seeker. "Why don't we have a look around the building? Maybe we can find someone who knows more about this place or why we're here."

"You don't mind me tagging along?" Hiroko questioned, unsure if she could be of much help.

"Of course not. I imagine that your talent would be of use when it comes to gathering information." Touma held a thumbs up in Hiroko's direction and gave her a slick wink. "I'm counting on you!"

"Don't get your hopes up!" Hiroko could feel her cheeks start to heat up again as Touma seemed to be looking to mess around with her heart. "My talent involves locating missing or hidden persons or objects. I'm not a detective or anything like that."

"Those skills of yours would be at least somewhat related, so I'm such that you could turn out to be a great detective." Again, Touma glanced away from the shorter girl as audibly spoke to himself. "Given the circumstances, we may need one more than ever…"

"Did you say something?"

"Ah, I was just thinking aloud again," Touma said in a carefree manner as he innocently ran his fingers through his hair again. "Why don't we give the room a sweep before we move on."

"Sure. I can do that."

Hiroko turned her attention to the room that the pair was standing in. The empty, largely-white classroom looked normal enough at first, but Hiroko knew from experience that first impressions are never accurate. She'd have to be observative if she was to be sure that there's nothing here worth finding.

* * *

 **Investigation Mode: ON**

Location: Empty Classroom

 **Student Desks**

Hiroko: (The desks here are all in good condition. Each of them is arranged neatly in rows, just as you'd expect from any normal classroom.)

Hiroko: Hey, Touma. You said that this place doesn't look like Hope's Peak Academy. Are you sure this couldn't be one of its classrooms?

Touma: It's not like I remember a whole lot about what Hope's Peak's school building looks like, but I just get the feeling that this wouldn't be it.

Touma: I actually get the sense that this isn't really a classroom.

Hiroko: Really? What makes you say that?

Touma: I don't know. It's like the desks don't actually belong here.

Touma: Oh! Notice how most of the room is covered in dust, but the desks are completely spotless?

Hiroko: I see. Now that you mention it, it really does stand out.

Hiroko: (Wow. Touma's a lot more perceptive than I would have thought. He told me that he'd be relying on me, yet he seems quite capable.)

Hiroko: (I guess I just have to work hard to impress him!)

 **Wire-cover Windows**

Hiroko: (The windows here are almost entirely covered with razor-sharp barbed wire.)

Hiroko: (Who on Earth spent the time doing all this? And why?)

Touma: I wouldn't try opening the windows here if I were you. With this much sharp wire, it would be impossible to move it without cutting up your hands.

Hiroko: I know. I was just looking.

Touma: It's a shame that the glass is so dirty. It would have been nice if we could see what's outside.

Touma: Oh well! I guess we can see if we can step out of the building once we're done here.

 **Side Room**

Hiroko: (This where I woke up before Touma freed me. The overwhelming scent created by the old books is so potent that it's almost sickening.)

Touma: If you do decide to go in there, don't close the door behind you. There's no telling whether or not it would get stuck again.

Hiroko: Trust me, I'm aware. I'd hate to go through that again.

Hiroko: (The lights for the room is busted, but I should be able to read the titles of the books using the lights from the classroom.)

Hiroko: (…)

Hiroko: (There are at least a hundred books in there but they're all just textbooks on various schooling subjects. There's nothing else of interest here.)

 **Touma Torisaki**

Hiroko: So, Touma. Have you been able to see what's outside of the classroom?

Touma: Unfortunately, no. I was slouched over one of the desks here before I woke up.

Touma: The sound of you crying was actually what woke me up, so I haven't had any time to go exploring.

Hiroko: Wait! You heard that?!

Touma: How else would I have known that you were trapped in that room?

Hiroko: I guess but… it's just embarrassing to know that that's how you found me when we hadn't even met before.

Touma: Cheer up! I won't go telling anyone or anything like that.

Touma: If you want me to keep it a secret, just know that it's save with me.

Hiroko: …Thanks

Hiroko: (I just wish that he didn't hear me when I get into one of those moods, but's good to know that he's considerate of my feelings, at least.)

 **Camera**

Hiroko: (There's a security camera attached to the top corner of the classroom. It's large and bulky, so it stands out more than it should.)

Touma: To say that the camera seems out of place would be an understatement.

Hiroko: Yeah. I imagine that it would be distracting for anyone who'd have classes here.

Touma: …

Hiroko: (Touma is starting to look a little disturbed as he's staring at the camera.)

Hiroko: (It does seem out of place, but why does it have him looking so uneasy?)

 **Monitor**

Hiroko: (A monitor surrounded with speakers hangs from the ceiling above the whiteboard. It's currently switched off.)

Touma: That monitor doesn't look like anything I've seen before…

Hiroko: It does seem unique. I imagine that messages are broadcasted with the building through this.

Touma: …That would make sense.

* * *

"I think that everything here of note," Touma stated as he turned back to Hiroko.

"I guess I wasn't all that much help, huh?" Hiroko twirled her finger around one of her bangs, a little disappointed that her talent didn't help reveal anything useful. Her exploring companion, on the other hand, wasn't as bothered as he shrugged it off.

"No need to stress. Even the world's greatest detective can't find clues that don't exist. For now, let's turn our attention elsewhere." Touma was the picture of confidence as he approached the room's exit. Hiroko began following him for a couple of steps before hesitating. Things seemed pretty calm considering the wiring of the windows and suspicious-looking camera, but she had a very bad feeling about all of this.

"You don't think… that we're in any danger here, do you?" Hiroko's nervous question stopped Touma just before he reached the door.

"It's too early for me to say," The actor's honest words only cemented her fears. However, when he turned to face the bespectacled girl, he wore a gentle smile. "Hey, relax. I won't let anything happen to you while I'm around. I promise."

Despite his calm demeanour, Hiroko could sense the strength behind Touma's words. Between watching how well the actor was handling the worrisome scenario and the promise he made to her, she was already feeling better.

"T-Thanks…" Blushing, Hiroko returned a shy smile to Touma. When it came to stressful situations, Hiroko would often get overwhelmed and has even suffered panic attacks in particularly bad cases. As a result, she would always turn to others for support from her friends or aunt to keep her calm and focused.

Hiroko was relieved that, each in this strange foreign building, she had someone she could rely on.

"We'll move on when you're ready." Having quickly caught on to Hiroko's dependence, Touma considerately waited by the door for the shorter girl to prepare herself. Not wanting to hold him up any longer, the Ultimate Seeker joined the brown-haired boy and slid open the door leading to the rest of the building.

On the other side was a series of hallways, constructed with white walls and light marble tiles. The area felt abnormally sterile with much of the lighting coming from the lights installed on the ceiling. Only a small window allowed any sort of natural light into the building, which was too high for Hiroko to be able to look through it.

"Dammit! Another blockage." As Hiroko was taking in her surroundings, the sudden outburst of an unfamiliar voice made her jump. It came from behind the corner up ahead. Not looking anywhere near as fazed, Touma quietly made his way towards the voice. Hiroko stayed close to him as they peeked around the corner to find another male teenager investigating a pile of chairs and desks that were large and dense enough to keep him from moving past it.

The boy in question was a similar height to Touma, standing at around 5 foot 9 inches, slim and had tanned skin. From the back, Hiroko noticed his short and spiky black hair, black zipped-up jacket with a grey shuriken design on the back, dark grey pants with an unusual amount of pockets and black sandals.

"Jeez! What is all this stuff doing here anyway?" The teenager backed up from the makeshift blockage after he failed to deconstruct it.

"Howdy! You looking for something?" Touma called out to the boy, who eagerly turned his head to face the prying pair with his emerald eyes.

"You could say that…" The boy glanced back at the pile that prevented his advance before approaching Touma and Hiroko. Now that he was closer, Hiroko was able to spot the boy's digital watch on his left wrist as well as a long scar that ran along the right side of his neck. "I've been searching everywhere, but I keep running into these damn blockages."

"Blockages?" Touma examined the mass of wood over the boy's shoulder, who simply nodded.

"Yeah. This school building is massive but I've only been able to explore the first floor and this hallway." The boy scratched his head as he appeared to rack his brain over something. "Could the faculty at Hope's Peak have put us here?"

"What's makes you think that this is their doing, if you don't mind me asking?" Touma crossed his arms as he continued to question the stranger. Hiroko was content to silently watch from slightly further back.

"Every student I've spoken to here told me that they're students at the academy… Unless you guys aren't Ultimates as well."

"No, we are," The actor confirmed as he gave a friendly smile. "We might as well introduce ourselves while we're at it. I'm Touma Torisaki, the Ultimate Stage Actor."

"Hiroko Soma… Ultimate Seeker." While the boy looked friendly enough, Hiroko couldn't shake her timidness as she half-heartedly gave her name. The green-eyed teen didn't seem to mind as he put on a bright smile.

"Nice meeting you two. While it's not usually my style, I don't mind doing the blander introductions all that much. My name's Hayate Kamukura. I'm best known as the Ultimate Prankster."

* * *

Hayate Kamukura

Ultimate Prankster

* * *

Instinctually, Hiroko glanced down at the boy's hands as they made their way into the pockets of his jackets. She knew that Ultimates tend to no be all that shy about showing off their talents, so she couldn't help but expect that Hayate was looking to pull something. Noticing this, Hayate had a mischievous glint in his eye.

"I don't blame you for getting so cautious all of a sudden, though you can both relax. When I woke up earlier, I didn't have any of my tools on me. Besides, I'm not the mean-spirited sort you might have expected from someone with my title."

"Kamukura, huh?" Unlike Hiroko, something aside from the talent caught Touma's interest during the introduction. "You wouldn't have any relation to the founder of Hope's Peak Academy by any chance, would you?"

"I do. Think of his grandson, add a great or two in front of it and that's the person standing before you." Hayate was full of pride as he straightened his posture before his facial expression showed that he was suddenly hit with a realisation. "Ah, that reminds me… Has either of you seen my sister around? She's about this high, has straight black hair that goes partway down her back, blue eyes, and is super nice. Also-"

"Hold up there!" Touma put a halt to Hayate's eager dialogue as held up his hands. "The two of us had only just come to. You're the first person we saw since then."

"But we'll keep an eye out for her." Without a thought, Hiroko spoke up. Hayate looked back in her direction, this time with a genuinely happy expression.

"Oh, you said that you're the Ultimate Seeker, right? If you could, that would be a huge relief for me. Her name is Hinata and if you find her, let her know that her little brother is looking for her."

"Sure… I can do that." Knowing that she was going to be searching the entire building anyway, Hiroko felt that offering her help was a no-brainer. Hayate also seemed like a nice person so his sister would probably be the same.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me. If anyone ever gets on your nerves, let me know. I can always teach them a lesson for you." Hayate wore another of his Cheshire-like smiles, fitting for someone who had a talent for creating havoc. "Well, I gotta get back to searching. See you guys later!"

Before another word could be uttered, Hayate bolted with impressive speed in the opposite direction of the empty classroom and disappeared behind another corner.

"I guess he didn't want to hang around." Touma clicked his tongue after seeing the prankster vanish in an instant. "I still had some more questions for him."

"Should I not have agreed to help until you finished questioning him…?" Hiroko started to feel guilty before the blue-eyed teen firmly shook his head.

"Nah, it's fine. He said that there were other Ultimates here. We can try talking to them as we search for the guy's sister."

With that, Touma and Hiroko approached the tight pile of desks and chairs to give it a closer inspection.

"Is there no way past this blockage?" A few firm tugs of various parts of the pile confirmed Hiroko's suspicions. It didn't even budge a tiny bit.

"Looks like its crammed up quite nicely. Maybe we're better off spending our time on areas we can access more easily," Touma said as he brought a hand to his chin.

"How about we check all the rooms on this floor first. Hayate mentioned that the lower floor isn't blocked off so we can go there afterwards."

"Sounds like a plan."

When the pair left to check the rest of the floor, they found that they had access to two other rooms. The first was a classroom identical to the one that Hiroko had woken up in, which they spent little time in, and the second was a much larger room filled with bookshelves, a couple of wooden tables with chairs surrounding them and an empty counter by the door that they entered through.

"I guess this is the library." Hiroko approached one of the oak bookshelves as she skimmed her eyes over the enormous collection of books. "Do you think there'll be something of use around here?"

"It won't be worth checking everything now," Touma replied. "Let's just give the place a quick search and look for those other Ultimates right away."

"Right."

* * *

 **Investigation Mode: ON**

Location: Second-floor Library

 **Globe of the World**

Hiroko: (There's a large model of the world on top of the waist-high bookshelf in the centre of the room.)

Hiroko: (I'll give it a closer look.)

Hiroko: (…)

Hiroko: (As I spin the globe, I get the sense that it's a little off…)

Hiroko: This globe's outdated.

Touma: Outdated? You mean that it's a pre-Tragedy model?

Hiroko: That's right. There are some countries here that don't exist anymore. It's also missing the nations that formed in the wake of the Tragedy.

Hiroko: I can't imagine what it must have been like… watching your home vanish before your own eyes.

Touma: Japan can consider themselves lucky considering how bad it got here. If it wasn't an island nation, it could have easily gotten swallowed up by its neighbours as well.

Hiroko: (I'm not sure if "lucky" would be the right word to describe us…)

 **Blocked spiral staircase**

Hiroko: (A narrow spiral staircase stands towards the back corner of the library.)

Hiroko: (It would allow us to go to the third floor had the stairs not been boarded up partway.)

Touma: Looks like there's no getting up there. The opening in the ceiling has been blocked off with those thick sheets of metal.

Hiroko: This must be one of the blockages that Hayate was talking about.

Touma: Whoever put these up didn't want us to go far.

Hiroko: That's worrying…

Touma: We'll be fine. We just have to stay together until we know more about what happened to us.

 **Grand bookcase**

Hiroko: (Giant bookcases are standing against the wall, holding a variety of books. They're so tall that they've got mobile ladders attached to each of them.)

Touma: We can't spend too much time on those books. We're more likely to learn something from those other Ultimates.

Hiroko: Got it. I won't be long.

Hiroko: (Looking at some of these titles, they appear to be fictional stories. A lot of these look familiar.)

Hiroko: (It might be nice to read some of these… but it's not like I intend to stay here for long.)

 **Pile of books**

Hiroko: (Compared to the rest of the books that are neatly placed in bookcases, these books are piled up on the ground. It's almost as tall as me.)

Hiroko: (…!)

Hiroko: (Did I just see those books move?)

* * *

"H-Hello?" Hiroko softly called out as she crept apprehensively towards the pile of books. She kept approaching it until the green-eyed girl was close enough to reach one of the books. Once she moved several of the books aside, she was startled when she saw a pair of eyes staring at her from where these books once were.

"Ahhh!" Hiroko and the second person screamed as they saw one another.

"Hiroko!" Hearing her cry from the opposite end of the library, Touma rushed over to the gifted seeker. He was quickly relieved to find that she won't in any danger. "Oh, it was just another student."

The third student was an olive-skinned girl who stood only a couple of inches taller than Hiroko. Her brown hair was styled in a bob cut with bangs reaching over her forehead as she looked at the pair fearfully through her round brown eyes. Hiroko noticed that the frightened girl's face was covered in makeup. The black mascara and deep red lipstick, along with the light amount of blush and foundation she wore, gave her face a shiny and somewhat doll-like appearance.

As she leapt out from behind the books and hurriedly reached inside of a rose pouch sewn into her dress, Hiroko was able to see the girl's eccentric outfit in full.

The girl wore a sleeveless, black lace dress that was also asymmetric, with the back of the dress reaching the back of her knees while the front only reached partway down her thighs. The dress fitted nicely over her thin, but nicely curved, figure and was decorated with red roses that were attached to various spots, complementing the rose clip in her hair towards the left side of her head.

Also, she had a pair of black gloves spanning up to her elbows, a pair of black platform heels beneath three black anklets that circled each of her ankles, a black choker with a ruby embedded on the front and a simple black opera necklace. Her right shoulder bore a tattoo of a red rose with a black stem and thorns that wrapped around her arm. The opposite arm had a black armlet which completed what had to be the most surreal outfit that Hiroko had ever seen.

After fumbling around inside the pouch for a moment, the girl eventually pulled out a snow-white rabbit in the form of a sock puppet. The rabbit's dark eyes stared blankly at Hiroko as it obscured most of the puppet-wielder's face.

"S-S-Stand back! I may not look it, b-but I can bite really hard!" Hiroko went from frightened to confused in a blink of an eye as the girl spoke from behind the hand puppet in a slightly gruff voice, though she couldn't mask how high-pitched her voice actually was.

"Would a bite from a hand puppet really hurt?" Touma raised an eyebrow at the rabbit in amusement, only infuriating the animal further.

"Don't mess with me, buster!" The rabbit pointed an arm squarely at Touma's chest as it maintained its emotionless gaze.

"H-Hey, please don't be mad at Touma," Hiroko interjected, unsure of if the dispute was about to escalate. "I'm sorry that I startled you."

The rabbit turned its head towards Hiroko as the strange girl sent her free hand into another pouch on her dress. When she pulled her hand from out of the pouch, a worn, brown sock puppet with googly eyes was covering the girl's hand.

"You don't need to say sorry. We were the ones who spooked you," the girl spoke in a more cheerful voice, still peering nervously from behind the rabbit as she moved the fingers beneath the sock to make it 'talk'. "What brings you all here, anyway? Are you guys looking to read as well?"

"Oh… You have another puppet?" Touma seemed to have trouble keeping a straight face as he looked at the old sock on the girl's face.

"Who are you calling puppets!" The girl outstretched her arm supporting the rabbit puppet, making it close the distance towards Touma as it lashed out.

"Don't be a grouch, Chomei. They just want to get to know us!" The sock puppet scolded the rabbit before facing the two teenagers again. "There's three of us. I'm Maru, the rabbit's name Chomei…" The girl paused as she returned the sock puppet to its pouch and fished out a marionette from a third pocket. The figure attached to the strings was a green-eyed girl with long black hair wearing a simple red dress. "And my name is Anda. We're all friends of Miyako." Just like with the previous puppets, the girl spoke from behind with a more mature and elegant voice.

"Ah, so your name's Miyako?" Hiroko looked past the marionette at the girl, who shyly retreated further behind the figure in response. "I'm Hiroko Soma, and this is Touma. We're both Ultimates. Do you have a talent too?" Miyako's eyes didn't leave Hiroko's as the Ultimate Seeker patiently waited for a response. After a few rather tense moments, the doll-like girl slowly lowered Anda.

"A-A-Are you really interested in me?" Miyako looked down bashfully at her feet as she clutched her arm. "M-My name… is Miyako Iwashimizu… Ultimate Puppeteer."

* * *

Miyako Iwashimizu

Ultimate Puppeteer

* * *

"Nice to meet you, Miyako." Hiroko smiled pleasantly, content that she was able to talk to the girl directly. "What were you doing hiding behind those books?"

"…I was reading… before I heard some people enter the library." Miyako would glance up towards Hiroko and Touma on occasion, but her eyes would shoot back down before eye contact could be held for an uncomfortable length of time. "I-I was afraid that you might have been the people who kidnapped me and my friends… so I hid behind all the books I was reading."

"Kidnapped?" Listening from behind Hiroko, Touma scratched his head. "Can you be certain that that's what happened to us?"

"What else do you think happened?" Suddenly, Chomei the rabbit leapt out of nowhere as Miyako cowered behind the puppet again. "Maybe if you knew how to use that microscopic brain of yours, you would have come to that conclusion yourself!" Touma blinked at the rabbit, at a loss with how to react.

"How about I leave the talking to you, Hiroko."

"S-Sure." Both she and Touma realised that Miyako wasn't warming up to the actor quite as quickly as she was with Hiroko. "You don't think that this could be the school's doing? Like this is all some sort of orientation activity or scavenger hunt they orchestrated."

"I-I don't think so…" Miyako lower Chomei from her face again as Touma remained silent. "It would be strange… if that was the case a-and we weren't told… about it beforehand. Also… d-do you remember… anything about the school p-possibly doing this to us?" Before Hiroko could continue the conversation, she heard the nearby library doors burst open as a fourth person entered the room.

"Oooh, jackpot!" An excitable voice echoed around the library as another girl look around in awe at the massive collection of books with her emerald eyes. The new arrival stood at a similar height to Miyako and had long black hair that spilt out from beneath her black trilby with a green band. Her skin was of a healthy light tone and she had smaller, feminine facial features, though the clothing she was wear was rather masculine.

She wore a black dress shirt with a dark overcoat hanging freely from her slender shoulders. Her pants were of the same formal style that the shirt was and her shoes were pointed and well-polished, both were black in colour. Hiroko also noticed that the girl's hands were completely covered in white bandages.

It took the girl until after she took the first few steps into the library before she realised that she wasn't alone. After spotting the other three teenagers, her expression swiftly changed from one of total glee to one that was far more stoic. She pulled her hat further down her forehead as she gave each person a gaze of great intensity.

"What's with the expectant stare? Are you waiting for an introduction? Under usual circumstances, I'd be happy to oblige. However, this is one of those instances where such things are best kept secret." Hiroko and Miyako stared blankly at the mysterious girl as she seemed to act totally different from the girl was almost busted the doors off their hinges. Touma, on the other hand, smirked as he took a step towards her.

"Then how do you propose we go forward from here, stranger?" Touma's mannerisms and tone his voice both changed in ways that made him come across as more girl-like as he responded to the hat-wearing girl. It looked as though he was taking on a role as he would normally in a stage performance. "You are hardly in any position to remain tight-lipped. After all, the truth is nigh impossible to find for those who keep their hearts closed from others." From beneath the trilby, Hiroko could see a change in the girl's eyes. They almost seemed to sparkle as looked at Touma.

"Ohmygodyouknowthelines!" The long-haired girl quickly dropped character as she rushed over to Touma until she stood uncomfortably close to him. "We were just like Klein and Hanna from the books! Have you read the other books in the series? What's your favourite entry? What about your favourite character? Don't you think Klein's the coolest? Do you remember the part where-"

The girl was rapid-firing a bunch of questions at breakneck speeds until her wrist, as her arms were shaking from pure excitement, slammed down hard on the corner of a nearby bookshelf.

"Awu!" The girl clutched her sore hand and pulled it close to her chest as tears started to form in her eyes.

"Hey, take it easy!" Touma stealthily took a half-step back from the girl before placing a concerned hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah… I tend to bump into things a lot so…" The girl wiped the tears away with her hand as she looked at Touma in embarrassment. Watching on in silence, Hiroko couldn't help but feel a little jealous as Touma took the girl's arm gave the wrist a closer inspection and pressed lightly around the sore area.

"It doesn't look like you did anything major to it, but you should be careful with your surroundings."

"I know…" The girl pouted like a child as Touma released his grip of her.

"I know the lines from a production that adapted The Crimson Epitaph novels to stage," Touma explained while the girl seemed to have calmed down. "I take it that you're a fan of Haru Mitsuka's novels."

"While it's kind of embarrassing, you could say that..." The girl sheepishly grinned as she used a bandage-covered finger to pull the hair over her face behind her ear. "You see, I'm actually Haru Mitsuka, the Ultimate Thriller Novelist. It's a pleasure to finally meet someone here who's read my novels!"

* * *

Haru Mitsuka

Ultimate Thriller Novelist

* * *

Haru's bright, enthusiastic smile got a gentle chuckle out of Touma.

"Shouldn't I be the one who's supposed to be star-struck by this meeting? Anyway, my name is Touma Torisaki. As you might have guessed, I'm the Ultimate Stage Actor." Touma then gestured towards Hiroko. "My companion over here is Hiroko Soma. She's the Ultimate Seeker."

"It's nice to meet-"

"Heya, Hiroko! Have you read any of my novels?" Seemingly forgetting about the accident she had moments ago, Haru ran up to her as she waited eagerly for her response.

"I know of them…" Hiroko started, unsure of how to say that she didn't in the politest way possible. "I don't usually get into dark narratives. I tend to get into romantic light novels more than anything."

"Oh! But my stories have romance!"

"It does?"

"Well… it may not be like your typical schoolyard drama, but a lot of love and passion goes into my novels," Haru beamed as spoke vigorously. "It would mean a lot to me if you could give them a read. I'm certain that you'll love them if you give them a chance!"

"I'll definitely keep it in mind." Hiroko had to admit that seeing Haru get so excited while talking about her writing got her curious.

Meanwhile, Miyako had crept further towards one of the grand bookcases at the back of the room in the hopes that she could hide from the excitable author. Unfortunately for her, Haru had noticed her too and made her way over to her.

"What about you?" The timid Miyako jumped as Haru quickly raced over to her. "Have you read any of my books?" The puppeteer glanced over to her pouches on her dress but eventually answered the question herself.

"I-I usually enjoy reading older classics… but I do think… that yours are p-pretty good too."

"You do?!" The volume of Haru's voice increased drastically as though she took it as an enormous compliment. "What do you like the most about them? Do you like the characters? What about Klein? Isn't he the coolest?!"

As Miyako struggled to pull out a puppet to help intervene on the bombarding of questions, Touma silently looked at Hiroko and jerked his head towards the door, suggesting that they should take their leave. The gifted seeker looked sympathetically towards Miyako but knew that her investigation couldn't wait.

Apologising to the puppeteer in her thoughts, Hiroko left the library with Touma and gently closed the door behind them so it would make as little noise as possible.

"Those two are… unique." Now in the hallway, Hiroko was able to talk freely about the two strange girls.

"That can be said for at least half of every Ultimate, but I must admit, those two were on a whole other level." Touma ran his fingers through his hair as he returned his attention to the more pressing issue. "This floor looks to be covered. There'll probably be more things to see downstairs."

With that, the pair headed for the stairs and descended to the first floor. While she was worried about what she was doing in an unfamiliar building with no memories of her time at Hope's Peak Academy, she couldn't help but be curious about what other Ultimates were awaiting her.


	4. Prologue: Part 2

**Prologue: From Ambitus Dreams to the Ultimate Nightmare: The Revival of DanganRonpa, Part 2**

After descending the last of the steps, Hiroko was faced with the similar white tiles and hallway wall that she saw earlier. Like the second floor, the interior of the ground floor was an uncomfortably bright white with only some features along the two hallways intersecting at the stairs, such as the fire extinguisher, notice boards and doors, providing any other colours within Hiroko's line of sight.

"This floor doesn't appear to have as many blockages as the last one," Touma commented as he set his sights further down the hallway positioned ahead of him. Past a couple of what Hiroko assumed to be classrooms due to the black labels reading 1-1 and 1-2 positioned above the door, the hallway was connected to a more open indoor space. "It could be the entrance hall of this school. Let's begin our search of the floor from there once we check out these classrooms."

Hiroko silently nodded, content with following the suggestions of the Ultimate Stage Actor. The more she saw of the building, the harder it was to convince herself that this wasn't the prelude of something bad happening. Meeting several of the other Ultimates who were caught in the same predicament as her did little to settle her nerves. In fact, knowing that there were more students than the four that the Ultimate Seeker had already met made her a more heightened sense of unease. Whatever the reason that brought all these Ultimates together in a foreign building is, it can't be good.

But… was things really that bad right now?

Despite her thoughts, a small part of her wanted to believe that this was all some misunderstanding created by the school and the memory troubles would clear up once the drowsiness completely goes away.

That's right… She has to believe that everything will be fine.

"Hiroko?" Partway through the investigation of the second classroom, Touma noticed the pensive look on the shorter Ultimate's face. "You're zoning out."

"I am?!" Hiroko didn't even realise that her mind was wandering as she tailed the stage actor during their exploration. "Sorry. I shouldn't be leaving all the searching to you, especially when I could be using my talent."

"It's okay," Touma reassured her. "These classrooms are exactly like the ones we saw upstairs. There's probably nothing of interest in here." After gazing at Hiroko quietly for a moment, the actor's expression lost its cheerful smile. "You've got that feeling it too, don't you?"

Touma's words were vague but Hiroko somehow understood him. He was referring to the lingering sense of dread in her chest that had sat inside of the girl since she woke up.

"I guess… I know that I should be more optimistic while we're still searching for answers, but I can't help it." Hiroko didn't want to start worrying Touma but to her surprise, the blue-eyed boy breathed a short sigh of relief.

"It's nice knowing that I'm not the only one."

"It is?" Hiroko was dumbfounded by the actor's pleased expression.

"It may sound a little odd, but it is." Touma suddenly looked incredibly stern. "If we're not careful, this unsettled feeling we have right now… could turn into despair."

"D-Despair…?" A chill ran down Hiroko's spine as she struggled to let the word pass through her lips. Uttering the word had become taboo in light of the Tragedy. This was understandable given that many of the adults that survived the world-altering event go through episodes of PTSD just by the sound of it.

Thankfully, Hiroko, along with most people her age, couldn't recall much of the Tragedy as they were so young at the time. Still, the word had a certain power over her that the expert seeker couldn't really describe.

"It's not a big deal right now, but any subsequent feelings of fear, anxiety and uncertainty can all cascade into despair… One that's so strong that it can warp a person's personality and ideals." Touma maintained his serious expression that Hiroko had never seen him wear up until then. "Thankful, the feeling can become hope just as easily. Even if you can't cling to hope for just yourself, it can be easier to find when you're sharing the experience with other people."

"I-I think I understand… Since we're experiencing this together, we can rely on one another to remain hopeful if things do get worse." Hiroko shook off the nervousness in her voice as she spoke while Touma nodded, visually pleased that the Ultimate Seeker recovered well from the initial shock. After a slight pause, the Ultimate Stage Actor returned his relaxed, laid-back self.

"Sorry for getting all serious there," Touma grinned as he scratched the back of his neck. "I hope I didn't scare you with all that talk."

"Well… I'd hate to think that something bad will end up happening, but I'm glad to hear that you want my support. You seem so reliable that I never would have known if you didn't say anything."

"Me? Reliable?" Touma's eyes strayed from the shorter girl as a shade of light pink coloured his cheeks. "Heh, I don't get that a lot. I suppose it has something to do with my desire to get to the bottom of the mystery of this place and our memories… Or maybe it's because I can't help but be on my best behaviour when I find an adorable girl in need." Not able to handle the blatant flirting, Hiroko's entire face lit up that made Touma's blush appear non-existent in comparison.

"A-Are you teasing me again?!" Hiroko pointed an irritated glare in the boy's direction as the actor gave a nervous chuckle.

"Hey! When did I ever tease you?" Touma couldn't hide the mischievous look on his face as he raised his hands defensively. "I'm being completely truthful. Honest!" The boy's subsequent chuckle embarrassed Hiroko further as she remained out-of-sorts for the rest of the rooms examination.

As the young student focused on composing herself, she recalled what Touma mentioned earlier about the risk of falling into despair. Sure, everything he said made sense, but what made him bring it up all of a sudden? It seemed to Hiroko like he was expecting that something terrible was about to happen. If so… what could it possibly be?

Just as Hiroko was mulling over that question in her head, Touma led her out of the empty classroom and through the hallway into what appears to be the building's entrance hall.

"This place must be huge," Touma observed out loud as he looked up to the extravagant golden chandler hanging from the high ceiling. "I can tell by how massive this entrance hall is."

The walls and tiled floor maintained the same colour and design as the previous hallways they'd ventured down. Aside from the chandler, which looked totally out-of-place, the other details of interest were a wide staircase leading to the second floor and a grand double door made of oak that stood much taller then what was reasonably necessary. The top of the stairs was blocked with enough broken blackboards to prevent entry to the next floor. However, the hallways that were connected to the open space were all free to venture down.

Upon lowering her eyes, the Ultimate Seeker noticed that they weren't alone.

"Hey, Touma," Hiroko called for her investigative partner's attention. "There's someone else here!" Standing a few metres away from the large door, a girl with shoulder-length black hair was preparing to charge at the one obstacle standing between her and the outside world.

"She's… not going to try and break the doors down, is she?" Touma sounded confused but watched on with enthusiasm. "I want to see if she can do it!"

"Hey! Shouldn't we stop her? She could hurt herself!" Not only did the twin doors look extremely study and difficult to bust open, but the girl was even smaller than Hiroko was. Even though the girl's nicely-toned arms suggested that she was stronger than her size implied, she had nowhere near enough weight to make the doors budge. "Wait!"

Hearing Hiroko calling out to her, the girl turned to face the direction of the noise before she could take her first step towards the doors. Her red, almond-shaped eyes rested on the Hiroko and Touma before her startled expression was swiftly replaced with a friendly grin.

"Ah! More people," the tanned girl muttered to herself before approaching the two students with a wave. "Hiya! What brings you guys here?"

The small girl's attire was rather simple compared to the clothing of the students that Hiroko had previously met. She was wearing a white tank top with a wooden cross attached to the string necklace that she had on. The dark brown, canvas cargo pants that she wore had large pockets positioned down each leg, each of them looking as though they were on the blink of bursting. The green belt that she had around her waist was mounted by numerous glass vials, each of them bearing different contents from clear liquids to a white, powdery substance. Matching her belt, the converses on the girl's feet were the same shade of dark green with white laces. Her hair was embedded with several bobby pins that helped keep her hair away from her cheery expression.

The standout of her image was the tattoo that spanned her entire left arm. The design was of an intricate, black and red viper that had coiled itself around her arm. The snake's tail stopped around her wrist while its head rested on her left shoulder. The snake wore an intimidating expression as it had its fangs exposed while the scales were marked with numerous symbols that Hiroko couldn't understand.

"It's hard to say," Touma responded as he took another quick glance around the room. "We didn't exactly come here by choice."

"That's why we're investigating this place," Hiroko added. "Do you know anything about this place."

"Nope! Not a single thing." Despite the discouraging words, the girl still wore her bright smile like it was painted on. "It's nice seeing that some people are trying to case this joint. The people I ran into earlier were either too scared, lazy or distracted to explore this place. I've actually been trying to see if there was a way to get through this door and see what was outside." The girl gestured towards the double door that she was preparing to run into earlier.

"Do you really think you can bust through those doors?" Hiroko asked worriedly. The red-eyed girl's smile dampened slightly before perking back up in an instant.

"Totally! I may not look it, but I'm the strongest martial artist that's ever lived," she announced proudly. "Those doors will be no match for my Demon-Slaying Axe Kick!"

"Wow! You're that strong?"

"Doubt it," Touma remarked bluntly as he pointed towards the door. "See the latch further up the door? She was just getting a running start to try and jump up to it."

"Hey! Why did you have to be such a spoil-sport?" The tattooed girl frown, visually annoyed that the actor was about to see through her lie so easily.

"I'm sorry, but Hiroko here is as gullible as they come. If you didn't come clean, she would have wanted you to slam yourself into the door."

"That's a horrible thing to say about someone you just met." Hiroko meekly muttered as looked at Touma with hurt eyes. "What makes you think I'm gullible?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm not wrong, am I?" The disapproving look from both girls caused the brown-haired boy to sheepishly scratch his head beneath his mask. "We should probably introduce ourselves. I'm Touma Torisaki, the Ultimate Stage Actor."

"Hiroko Soma… Ultimate Seeker," the small girl sulked, still upset from Touma's earlier comment. "You're an Ultimate too, right?"

"Damn right!" The smile on the girl's face widened significantly as she pointed her thumb towards her chest. "I am the light that extinguishes the darkness in peoples' hearts. The Conquer of Evil, Taira Tekami, the Ultimate Exorcist!"

* * *

 **Taira Tekami**

 **The Ultimate Exorcist**

* * *

"Exorcist?" Hiroko repeated in confusion, not entirely certain that she didn't mishear her. "You've… carried actual exorcisms before?"

"Well duh! How else would I have gotten that title?" The proud glint Taira had in her eyes told the gifted seeker that she was every bit serious. Hiroko glanced towards Touma who wore the same sceptic expression as she did.

"What I think Hiroko was getting at is… well… ghosts can't be real."

"What makes you so sure about that? There's plenty of paranormal beings out there, their presence unnoticed due to the ignorance of the general population!" Taira spoke out passionately. She didn't seem particularly upset that the pair doubted her beliefs but she wasn't willing to just let it go. "If you're so sure, why do you think everyone that was brought here also has a lot of their recent memories wiped?"

"I haven't got a clue…" Hiroko trailed off as she was given another disturbing reminder of the predicament that she was trapped in.

"It's because this all the work of demons."

"Demons?" Touma struggled to keep himself from rolling his eyes. "Assuming if they exist, why would demons want to kidnap a bunch of Ultimates in the first place?"

"Isn't it obvious? They want to possess us." Taira ignored the actor's blatant unwillingness to take her seriously and continued. "Even as high school students, Ultimates are key influencers in whichever field they specialise in. If a horde of demons were to control enough of them, they could shape the future. I'm 100% certain that the demons are going to use that power to bring ruin to the world again. Only this time, it would be for good!"

"T-They would?!" Hiroko mindlessly spoke out loud, deeply absorbed by the narrative that Taira had told.

"See? Gullible," Touma simply pointed out to the shorter girl, who showed her displeasure by turning away from him and crossing her arms in a huff. "I'm sorry! I don't know what it is, but I really can't help myself." Failing to suppress his chuckle, the Ultimate Stage Actor quickly moved to change the topic yet again. "That aside, we should look at trying to get this door open. Could you help me with it, Hiroko?"

"I suppose I could…" Hiroko trailed off reluctantly as she kept her back facing the brown-haired boy. While she didn't appreciate his earlier comments, a part of her drove her to act a little playfully, trying to make Touma fold from the remorse he must be feeling.

"Don't be like that. I said I was sorry, didn't I?" Catching on, Touma spoke a little more light-heartedly, though Hiroko could sense a pang of guilt through his words.

It was strange… It almost felt like she had this sort of banter with someone before, but she couldn't recall who the other person was if her life depended on it. Could she really have known him from Hope's Peak Academy?

"Fine, you win." Touma finally exclaimed as he broke Hiroko's pondering. "I promise that I'll stop teasing you once we get this door unlocked." He positioned himself below the latch and crouched down while facing the door. "If you stand on my shoulders, you'll be able to reach the latch."

"Well…" The boy's offer was tempting enough to give the Ultimate Seeker pause. The idea of keeping Touma from saying anything that could embarrass her was too good to pass up, especially if it required almost nothing on her part.

To Hiroko's astonishment, Taira raced past her in an instant and leapt incredibly high in the air considering her tiny stature. Her flight ended with her feet crudely landing on top of Touma's shoulders to the actor's surprise.

"Ow!" Touma stumbled forward from the sudden impact and was forced to use the door in front of him to keep him from falling flat on his face. "What the hell!"

"There's no way I'm letting you trick Hiroko," Taira yelled as she successfully kept her balance as she stood over Touma. "I can tell that you're a pervert looking to use this chance to get a peek up a defenceless girl's skirt!"

"No way!" Angered from the accusation, Touma struggled to straighten his legs while being weighed down by the exorcist. "Why would I do something so inappropriate?!" seeing the boy's line of sight run up Taira's pant legs, it had only just dawned on Hiroko how vulnerable of a position that she was about to put herself in.

He wouldn't have done that to her… right? Was that really what he planned to gain from relinquishing his right to poke fun at her?

"Hey, Hiroko!" Noticing the meek girl's cheeks flaring up again, Touma called out to her through gritted teeth as the converse heels dug into his shoulders. "That wasn't my intention!" Hiroko could only hide her face by burying it in her hands as several conflicting emotions overcame her.

"Whatever. Now hurry up and get closer to this lock so that we can get out of here."

During the next sixty seconds, Touma was forced to shuffle against the door until he could hold his position directly under the latch. Taira's lack of height meant that she had to stand on her toes just to be able to brush her fingers on the lock. Not only did this make it difficult for her to unlock the door but Touma was made to endure more discomfort as the weight constantly shifted on his shoulders.

"Would have been nice if you'd taken your shoes off…" Touma managed to grunt out as Taira planted one of her feet on top of his head.

"Quit your whining! I'm almost there." Using the extra height, the young exorcist was finally able to unlock the door. "Got it!" With a triumphant cry, Taira leapt to the ground as Touma was left rubbing his stiff neck.

"Does this mean that we'll be able to escape now?" Having mostly recovered from the earlier shock, Hiroko approached the door to join her fellow Ultimates.

"We'll just have to see, won't we?" Upon stretching out his shoulders, Touma grasped the door handle. "Right, here it goes…"

The giant door was tugged open as a dull light and wisps of fog streamed into the entrance hall. Looking out at what lied beyond the school building, the trio could hardly see anything past their own noses. Aside from the steps and paved pathway directly in front of the doorway, the scenery was completely veiled.

"Where are we?" Hiroko voiced the question that was playing in a loop in her head as she looked as far as she could through the dense fog.

"There's no way of knowing from here. the visibility out here is abysmal." Touma held out his hand with an outstretched arm, gathering an understanding of how severe the fog was. "At least it's nice knowing that we aren't confined to the building's interior."

Taira took a few weary steps into the unknown, looking down at her feet to ensure that she wouldn't trip on the paved path, but returned to the other teenagers once she started to lose sight of them.

"Is it even safe to leave with all this fog?"

"Probably not. But it would be worth having someone venture out in case we can find some help." Touma, deep in thought, looked down at the path that appeared to lead to total nothingness. "I'll investigate outside. You two stay here."

"You're going out there? Alone?!" Hiroko turned to Touma in alarm. "You can't!"

"There's a lot of ground we need to cover with no telling how much time we have to scout the place. I'll try sticking to the path so I can find my way back."

"But what if you get into trouble out there?" Not letting up, Hiroko continued to plead for the brown-haired boy to reconsider. "Someone might not be there to help you."

"It'll be okay." Placing his hands on Hiroko's slender shoulders, Touma lowered himself to eye-level and firmly reassured her. "Everything will be fine… at least for the time being."

In what seemed to be a habit of his, the muttering at the end of the Ultimate Stage Actor's sentence wasn't intended to be heard. Hiroko always had a feeling that Touma knew more than he let on, but she couldn't bring herself to not trust him. Even if he was keeping secrets from her, she had to believe that he had a good reason. Maybe he was trying to protect her…

When he noticed Hiroko's quizzical look, Touma continued.

"Just focus on finding the other Ultimates. I'll be waiting back here once I'm done, and hopefully with a rescue party."

"Fine…" With a sigh, the bespectacled girl reluctantly conceded. "Just… please be careful." Touma simply nodded before stepping back to also address the Ultimate Exorcist who was silently observing the two at the time.

"Stay safe, you two."

"Don't be walking off any cliffs by mistake," Taira called out as Touma turned and left the building. Before disappearing into the fog, he turned back to the worried Hiroko and tried to settle her nerves by giving her a confidant smirk and thumbs-up. Hiroko found herself smiling back at the Ultimate before finally vanishing down the path.

Stepping out from the fog and returning to the centre of the entrance hall, Hiroko turned to Taira who followed her.

"Ms Tekami-"

"Taira," the dark-haired girl interrupted her as she placed her arms behind her head in a carefree manner. "You can call me Taira. There's no need to get all formal with me."

"Ok… Taira. Could you accompany me while I explore the lower floor of the building?" Hiroko asked as she rubbed her shoulder nervously. "I… don't think that it would be a good idea for either of us to be alone."

"Are you sure you aren't just afraid?" Taira intended for her words to just be some light-hearted banter, though Hiroko lowered her eyes in discomfort.

"Well… that too."

"H-Hey. Don't get all depressed on me! I'll tag along, so cheer up!" Feeling bad about the misinterpretation, Taira quickly scrambled to contain any potential damage. "I may have been joking about being the strongest person in existence, but I am pretty tough. Demon or not, I can protect you so don't sweat it."

"Thank you… and thanks for… that other thing."

"You mean the thing with that creep trying to peak up your skirt?" Hiroko gave the slightest of nods as she blushed once more. "Believe it or not, I've had my own experiences with dealing with the odd stalker, so I've got you covered."

At that moment, a shockwave rang out from one of the connecting hallways as the sound of an intense and solid impact filled the girls' ears.

"What was that?" Spooked, Taira snapped into a combative stance and faced the direction of the sound. Hiroko stagged backwards slightly as she swore that she felt a wave of wind rushing past her in conjuration with the noise. There was a slight moment of silence as an eerie hush surrounded the hall before a collection of blows sung out done the same corridor in rapid succession.

"We need to go see what it is. Someone could be in trouble!" With adrenaline running through her body, Hiroko took off down the hallway.

"R-Roger!" Taira followed closely behind as the noises guided them to a far corner of the school building. Bursting through the door labelled "Training Room", the girls were quickly able to identify the source of the noise.

In the centre of the room, which had an interior that led Hiroko to feel like she walked into a dojo, there were two teenagers darting within the confines of a raised, circular platform. The long strands of blonde and silver hair trailed gracefully behind each combatant, making it even more difficult for Hiroko and Taira to make out the pair's appearance aside from the red cape and blue coat that each person was wearing. Realising that they couldn't step in without getting themselves hurt, the girls stayed well away from the arena.

"Oi!" Taira yelled out over the sounds of the stout wooden swords trading blows in the hands of their wielders. The silver-haired figure wearing a dark blue trench coat appeared to glance at Taira's direction with soft blue eyes and immediately halted their charge at their opponent.

Without hesitation, the second person, wearing a red cape, took advantage of the opening and landed a swift horizontal slash at the taller fighter's ribs. The first sword-wielder flinched as the blow was struck, through their hair hid any expression of pain that they may have been wearing.

"Looks like you got me," the silver-haired fighter spoke calmly despite the blow he endured. The voice was more masculine than Hiroko expected as the tall boy raised his eyes to meet his opponent's. "I see that your Ultimate status is well-earned." The second fighter brought a hand to her forehead and through her head back, letting her back-length hair fall behind her.

"Like you would know! You didn't even last a minute, and after you got my hopes up." The girl stated her disappointment as Hiroko picked up on her noticeably strong European accent. "I may be good, but I can tell that you weren't trying by the end."

"My apologies, though it would have been rude of me to not have acknowledged the arrival of these young ladies." The boy gestured to Taira and Hiroko, who were awkwardly watching them converse as though that intensive fight never happened. They didn't even look to be out of breath.

"Oh… I guess I was so focused that I didn't even notice them," The girl looked towards the spectators briefly but looked visibly annoyed by the intrusion.

"Is… everything okay in here?" Hiroko felt slightly intimidated from the blonde girl's standoffish demeanour.

"Yeah, all is A-O-K." The blonde seemed to discard her earlier disappointment with a calming breath and faced Hiroko with a charming smile. "We were just doing some sparring. It's not every day that you come across a world-class swordsman, so I just had to take the opportunity while I can."

"I imagine that the fight caused quite a ruckus," said the first fighter. "I'm terribly sorry if we had you both worried."

"No harm done. We're just relived that it wasn't anything serious." Taira casually shrugged off, though Hiroko could tell from the subtle shaking of her hand that the fighting frightened her more than she'd want to admit. "Oh, the name's Taira Tekami, by the way. I'm the one and only Ultimate Exorcist!"

"Hiroko Soma, Ultimate Seeker." Hiroko bowed politely as she introduced herself, finding the male fighter's refined manners to be almost infectious.

"The pleasure is mine." The tall boy took the steps down from the raised platform to properly introduce himself. "As for me, my name is Aaron Epreuve. Many know me by the title 'Sword Saint', though if you're interested in my Ultimate Talent, I also go by the Ultimate Fencer."

* * *

 **Aaron Epreuve**

 **The Ultimate Fencer**

* * *

As Aaron finished his introduction with a bow, Hiroko was able to take better notice of his appearance.

Aaron towered over her and Taira, standing at about six feet tall with a nicely-toned figure. He had pale skin and small, almost delicate, facial features that gave him a relatively feminine look when coupled with his straight silver hair that reached as far down as his shoulder blades.

The dark blue trench coat, bearing a downward-pointing rapier design on the back, Aaron wore was left open to reveal the black dress shirt and a silver tie he wore underneath. The tie was accessorised with a golden pin that had an appearance similar to a pair of interlocking swords. Aaron's waist was covered by a silver sash that wrapped around the waistband of his black pants. Attached to the sash over his right hip was a dark blue scabbard, though the long-bladed weapon that it was meant to hold appeared to be missing. Aside from his black footwear, the only other detail of note was the three small, golden studs that were positioned beneath Aaron right eye in a horizontal line. It was like a blemish on the tall swordsman's otherwise neat and elegant appearance.

"I suppose that leaves me then." Opting to avoid using the steps, the other fighter leapt from the arena and gracefully landed beside Aaron. "I am none other than Julia Caesar, the Darling of the Mediterranean and proud official of the Italian Army. I'm also known as the Ultimate Centurion. Impressive, huh?"

* * *

 **Julia Caesar**

 **The Ultimate Centurion**

* * *

Julia was like the picture of beauty. Her fair skin was practically shining as a testament to the amount of care she must have put into maintaining her appearance. Her golden blonde hair flowed lower enough to cover most of her back and her curvy, well-developed figure put Hiroko's body to shame, though the same would be true with every other girl the Ultimate Seeker had greeted so far. She'd imagined that Julia's clear blue eyes and energetically cheery expression would be popular among most teenage boys.

Julia's outfit was a bizarre mix of casual clothing and Roman Empire cosplay. She wore a firm-fitted golden shirt with various decals that gave the shirt a similar appearance to chest armour worn by Roman soldiers. A red cloth belt was wrapped around Julia's legs above her thigh-high brown skirt and brown sandals with strapped the run to just below her knees. The outfit was topped off with the long red cape that hung just off the ground and a thin ribbon of the same colour that was tied around her neck and sat over her chest.

"It's nice to meet you both." Feeling the tension vanish from the room, Hiroko quickly felt at ease after being acquainted with the pair. "I'd like to talk about more pleasant topics, but Taira and I have been investigating the cause of what brought us here."

"I see." Aaron's expression became thoughtful as he brought a hand to his chin. "I was able to ask a few of the other individuals about any information they may have on that. Unfortunately, everyone has claimed that their memories since joining Hope Peak Academy were hazy at best."

"So everyone really doesn't remember…" That sensation of dread flared up within Hiroko once again. Was there even any use in questioning every person in the building?

The silver-haired boy gave a solemn nod and continued.

"Ms Caesar here did say that she could recall a more recent memory and was willing to share it with me, but only on the condition that we had a sparring match first."

"That was why the two you were fighting?" Taira spoke up as she turned to Julia. "You've finished your match, yeah? What was that thing you remembered?"

"Me? Oh, right…" Julia briefly acted as though she had no idea was Taira was talking about before 'conveniently' remembering. "I only said that because I figured that the Ultimate Fencer wouldn't agree to a fight if I didn't."

"Why would you lie about something so important at a time like this?!"

"It's alright, Ms Tekami," Aaron reassured the pint-sized exorcist. "She's confessed to her wrongdoing. Now that we had our battle, Ms Caesar, are you certain that you don't have any information of value?"

"It finished on a lacklustre note, but I suppose I could tell you about my memories of the time I spent in Japan. You should all be thankful for my charity." Julia gave her fellow students a compassionate smile, seemingly overlooking the fact that she confessed to conning Aaron into a sword fight mere seconds ago. "When I moved to Japan after accepting my invitation to attend Hope's Peak, I had a platoon of soldiers from the Italian Army accompany me since my father was concerned about the acts of terrorism that the country was witnessing at the time."

"You had bodyguards with you when you were kidnapped?" Hiroko asked.

"I wouldn't call them bodyguards, but you're mostly correct. If someone was trying to take me away, my men would have fought valiantly. Father only sent the best for the mission, after all. So if the kidnappers succeeded…" A heavy pause hung over the four Ultimates as they all absorbed the truth behind those words. If this was the work of kidnappers, then they would have had to have been powerful enough to take out a group of highly-trained soldiers just to get to one of the students.

Who would even be capable of pulling off such a feat?

Just as Hiroko felt as though the walls started to close in on her, Taira spoke up.

"To be fair, the Italian Army never did well at fights during wartime. The only ones that were worse than them were the French."

Understandably, this caused the Ultimate Centurion's expression to go from shock to pure anger as she shot daggers at Taira. Aaron was quick to react, positioning himself between Julia and Taira so that neither of them could see each other.

"H-How about we give the room a thorough search?" Aaron spoke to Hiroko while keeping an eye on the tense Centurion. "There may be something here of importance."

"Right… Good idea," Hiroko hurriedly put an end to the conversation as Aaron led the silently fuming Julia to the other side of the room after giving Taira a disapproving glance.

"Hey, Hiroko? E-pre-ver isn't a French name, is it?" Taira nervously whispered to Hiroko once the fencer was well out of hearing range. "Do you think I offended him too?" She wasn't certain herself, but the gifted seeker knew that her chances weren't good.

"Maybe you should leave the questioning to me."

"Good call…"

* * *

 **Investigation Mode: ON**

Location: Training Room

 **Weapons Stash**

Hiroko: (There's a pile of various bamboo and wooden weaponry in the corner of the room. Most of them are different types of swords, but there are also some javelins, clubs, even archery equipment stored in a nearby cabinet.)

Hiroko: (The weapons aren't organised at all, though there appears to be an inventory list recording all of the weapons this room is housing. Taira is taking a look at it now.)

Taira: Hey, Hiroko. I think that a bow and quiver full of arrows are missing from the cabinet here.

Hiroko: R-Really?

Hiroko: (If that's the case, that could be bad. If some crazy person got their hands on it, they could end up hurting someone.)

Hiroko: Aaron? Julia? Did either of you two take a bow and arrows from the weapon's cabinet?

Aaron: I can't say that I have. I've never had an interest in archery so I doubt that I ever touched it.

Julia: Bows aren't my thing either. I've always been the sort to charge head-first into battle, you know?

Hiroko: Are you sure that it's missing, Taira?

Taira: According to the list here, there should be two bows and two quivers with 40 arrows, but only counted one of each.

Aaron: I noticed the same thing when I was searching for my rapier… We should all be vigilant going forward. If someone is wandering the building with weapons on them, we'll need to be prepared.

Hiroko: U-Understood.

 **Sparring Dummy**

Hiroko: (There are four human-sized dummies lined up against one of the walls.)

Hiroko: (Each one is really just a sack full of straw hanging from a rope. I doubt that they would last ten seconds against Julia or Aaron from what we've seen from them.)

 **Firing Range**

Hiroko: (There's a firing range at the back of the room with targets positioned at various distances in each of the six lanes. There's also a door attached to the shooting range that allows students to go past the firing booths.)

Taira: Ok, this definitely looks out of place for a school building… Are there even any firearms around here?

Hiroko: Not from what I can see. Maybe it's intended to be used for archery practice.

Taira: Could be, but archery ranges are different from firing ranges. For starters, only gun ranges have movable targets and booths you have to stand inside of when shooting.

Hiroko: Oh. Are you familiar with archery?

Taira: Nah. I just remember what the setup looks little back at middle school. I have used a few gun ranges when I was younger.

Hiroko: Younger? How old were you?

Taira: Eight years old.

Hiroko: (Eight?! What would she even do with a gun at that age?)

Taira: It's not a traditional weapon for a demon hunter, but you never know when you might need to know how to use one.

Hiroko: (I shouldn't be too surprised that an exorcist would want to carry a gun on them too. After all, gun possession has been common for as long as I can remember. I even know a few friends of mine who has gun licenses.)

Hiroko: (I guess that the fear that came from the Tragedy had a hand in that…)

 **Aaron Epreuve**

Hiroko: Say, Aaron. You're not native Japanese, are you?

Aaron: No. I've been travelling the world to help hone my skills as a swordsman and Japan happened to be my next stop.

Aaron: I was raised in France, so much of my style was built off of the techniques taught by the fencing academies there.

Hiroko: (That's not good. He's probably mad at Taira as well.)

Aaron: Why the interest in my heritage, if I may ask?

Hiroko: Oh! Uh… I'm just impress with how good your Japanese is. You sound as though you've been speaking it your whole life!

Hiroko: (Smooth, Hiroko…)

Aaron: Well the swordplay isn't the only language that I had to develop during my travels. Many of the countries that I would visit required me to sufficiently communicate with my peers.

Aaron: Still, it great to hear such high praise from you. I'm truly flattered.

Hiroko: That… That's great to hear.

 **Julia Caesar**

Hiroko: Sorry about what Taira said earlier. I'm… sure that she only wanted to lighten the mood… or something…

Julia: Her comment isn't worth giving myself wrinkles over. It's not like it's the first time I've heard about my nation's lack of recent military successes.

Julia: Still, it's frustrating to see that lack of appreciation those in other countries have for our people. May of the modern day conveniences is only present due to the Roman Empire influence, you know?

Hiroko: You've got a point… Hey, can I ask you a silly question?

Hiroko: Are you… really a descendant of Julius Caesar?

Julia: Of course!

Hiroko: … Really?

Julia: Well yeah. I would have thought that my name would have given it away.

Hiroko: …

Hiroko: (She seems adamant that she is, but is that really possible?)

Hiroko: (I don't know what I was expecting, but I suppose that I should have seen this coming.)

 **Camera**

Hiroko: (There's a camera in this room too, just like the ones I saw in the library and empty classrooms.)

Taira: That stupid camera is here as well. I get the shivers whenever I see them…

Hiroko: I feel it too… We just have to keep asking around until we can make some sense of what's going on.

 **Monitor**

Hiroko: (Different room, same monitor display… Whoever put these up wanted to make sure everyone could see the screen no matter where they are in the school.)

* * *

"We've finished searching the room." Hiroko called out to Aaron and Julia from across the room. "We couldn't find anything here of note so we're going to move on."

"Do you two plan on searching the other rooms in the building?" The Ultimate Fencer joined Hiroko and Taira by the practice room's only entrance.

"Sure are!" Taira looked eager to go on acting as though her earlier comment was never made. "Gotta do something while we don't know what's going on." The swordsman nodded in agreement.

"Perhaps it would be best if we were to accompany you. I don't want to come across as being doubtful of your ability to protect yourselves, but there is safety in numbers."

"Are you suggesting that we should go with them?" Julia stood in the middle of the arena, holding her practice sword firmly in her grasp. "I'm not leaving until I get a proper match! You may be a fencer but as an Ultimate, I know that you're capable of more than what you showed me earlier."

"Hold on," Hiroko said urgently. "Shouldn't we be more concerned about-"

"It's quite alright, Ms Soma. I can tell by the fire in her eyes that she's serious. And, to be honest, it wouldn't sit right with me if I were to walk away after throwing the last game." Aaron couldn't hide his own enthusiasm as he turned back towards the circular platform. "I trust that you will both do fine without us, but do come back here if you are ever in danger or in need of any help."

"We will." While not particularly welcoming of the development, Hiroko felt that she couldn't convince either of them to postpone their fight until later. "Thank you."

"Best of luck to you both." Aaron took several long, purposeful strides towards the arena before grabbing his own weapon as he ascended up the steps. The Ultimate Fencer gazed at the sword in his hand and carried out a few practice slashes and lunges on the empty space in front of them before turning the wooden weapon on Julia. "It's been a long time since I've practised wielding a gladius, but the technique I'd mastered is starting to come back to me. Ready, Ms Caesar?"

"What sort of warrior would I be if I wasn't always ready?" Julia held her own confidant starring stance and Hiroko and Taira discreetly left the training room.

Shortly after the door closed behind them, the noise of the battle filled the halls once again as the two fighters picked up where they left off.


	5. Prologue: Part 3

**Prologue: From Ambitus Dreams to the Ultimate Nightmare: The Revival of DanganRonpa, Part 3**

Hiroko and Taira began backtracking towards the entrance hall after meeting Aaron and Julia. The sounds of the pair exchanging blows with their wooden weapons trailed off into dull thuds as the girls were only a few metres from their destination.

It was then when Hiroko noticed that she had run past two doors in the hallway during her urgent dash to the training room earlier. On each of the doors was a white square plaque, one bore a blue male figure while the other had a pink female figure, likely meaning that those doors led to the restroom. The short brunette placed a hand on the handle-less door to the girl's room and pushed firmly, only to find that the door didn't budge at the slightest.

"Do you need to use the bathroom, Hiroko?" Taira noticed the Ultimate Seeker pause outside of the door before Hiroko quickly shook her head.

"It's not that. I was thinking that we could check these rooms as part of our search… but the doors won't move." Hiroko pushed on the men's room to confirm that the second door also refused to move even an inch.

"Is that an electric lock?" Taira pointed to a silver panel to the right of each of the two doorways with the bearing only a large red LED light. "Why would anyone install them on the bathroom doors? I'm telling you, this is the work of demons."

The dark-haired girl's paranoia of demons may have been more humorous to Hiroko under better circumstances, but she appreciated the exorcist tagging along with her nonetheless. Like Touma, her presence was proving to be a source of comfort amid the bizarre surrounding the Ultimate Seeker had awoken to.

Taira reached into one of her pants pockets and, to Hiroko's surprise, retrieved a packet of plain-packaged cigarettes before swiftly placing one of the small cylinders between her lips. She patted down one of the pockets attached to the other leg of her baggy pants, feeling for another object. After a few moments of searching, Taira's face twisted into a scowl that aptly conveyed her bitter annoyance.

"Could you help a girl out?" Pinching her cigarette between her index and middle finger, she held it out towards the Ultimate Seeker. Hiroko stared blankly at the small stick for a moment before understanding what Taira was asking for.

"Sorry. I… don't usually keep a lighter on my person." Taira frowned before stowing the unused cigarette back into its package and returning it to its original pocket.

"Figures… You seem like too much of a goody-two-shoes to be even know how to smoke." The girl's frustrated tone resonated strongly through each of her words. Noticing her meeker companion avert her eyes from her with an uneasy expression, the exorcist was quick to try and smooth things over with her. "Shoot! Don't take that the wrong way. In case you haven't noticed, I tend to blurt things out without thinking."

"It's fine. It's not like what you said about me wasn't true." Hiroko subtlety lowered her head as she felt a rush of embarrassment. "I actually… kind of like your honesty, even if you're a bit too blunt at times." Taira grinned widely, responding positively despite the criticism.

"I'm glad that there's someone here that understands me! Usually, I end up weirding out or annoying a lot of the people that I meet, as you saw with how I interacted with Touma and Julia earlier." Even with her smile plastered on, Taira couldn't hide the feeling of disappointment as she returned her attention to her empty pocket. "A smoke would be really nice right about now…"

"I'm sure that we can find you a lighter if we keep on searching." A part of Hiroko wanted to ask Taira why she smoked in the first place. However, the two only just meet and the expert seeker had no clue with whether or not she would be comfortable with discussing it with her.

"I guess you're right…" Taira was reassured as she down at her tattoo-covered arm and ran her fingers along the inky scales of the serpent embedded in her skin. She smiled warmly as though the gazing upon the tattoo gave her a strong feeling of optimism. "We won't be able to solve anything by just standing around! Let's get a move on!"

It was blatantly obvious that Taira's agenda has shifted by that point, but Hiroko didn't mind. So long as they continued to scour the halls for anyone or anything that could help them get to the bottom of this mystery, she would have to make at least a bit of progress. As scary as it may be, the brown-haired search-specialist knew that finding it was the only way forward.

Hiroko and Taira made it back to the entrance hall before setting off down a different hallway, one leading to the underside of the large staircase. Once the sounds of manic sword fighting could no longer reach their ears, the pair had trekked past more of the same sparsely decorated white walls to be confronted by a set of doors at the end of a T intersection.

Unlike the doors Hiroko previously encountered that led to empty classrooms, the library or the practice room, these weren't sliding doors. The darkened oak doors were more like those that were at the front entrance with the doorway standing at about one-and-a-half times the height of any other interior equivalent that Hiroko had seen so far.

"This just might be the place," Taira beamed as she examined the label above the door that read 'Storage Room'. "We might be able to find clues in here too, or whatever it is we're meant to be looking for..." Despite the tense atmosphere that felt as though it was clinging to Hiroko like a pack of leeches, she couldn't help but chuckle at her abnormally laid-back view on their dilemma.

"You don't look like you're taking this very seriously."

"Hiroko, I don't think you understand how important that lighter is." Taira crossed her arms to appear sterner, though the light smirk she was still wearing was working against her. "If a demon was to show itself, I'd need to be in the right mental state to banish it from the realm of the living. The fate of the world could hinge on us finding that lighter!"

Hiroko leered at the cheery exorcist. Even if she hadn't become more self-conscious after Touma had brought attention to how gullible she tended to be, the brown-haired girl wouldn't be able to believe her for even a second.

Taira either didn't notice or bushed off Hiroko's glare as she threw the doors open and confidently marched inside. Much like the training room that they had just recently investigated, the room didn't appear particularly abnormal at first glance.

The ceiling was noticeably higher than that of the any of the previously explored rooms. It was quickly evident that it needed to be to contain the ginormous shelves that would look more at home in a giant warehouse. Each level was crammed with miscellaneous objects with seemingly no rhyme or reason to where each item was placed.

The shelves were arranged in a single row, orientated so that they formed aisles like what one would find in a supermarket. Along with the two caged areas in each of the two corners of the room that were closest to the door, the aisles and shelves took upon most of the space in the room.

"Have you found anything to help us reach the top shelves yet?" A male, standing at well over six feet tall, called out in a bellowing voice as he poked around the densely packed room. Hiroko could spot him through a small space between one of the towering shelves, though he didn't seem to notice her or Taira enter the room.

"Sorry, but I've got nothing." A second masculine, but noticeably gentler, voice called out from the back of the room, its owner out of Hiroko's sight. "Don't you think that we could just climb our way to the top of these things instead of having to use a ladder?"

"That wouldn't be wise. Most of these shelves don't appear to be all that stable and would most likely tip over if you did that." The first boy didn't let the discussion distract him from his task as he appeared to look at the various items stocked within the room, pulling out the odd object for closer inspection before returning them to their previous spot. "Join me in inspecting the lower shelves then. Let me know if find anything we could use."

"You got it!" The second boy suddenly stepped out from behind one of the shelves as he ran towards his partner, almost bumping into Hiroko as he appeared.

"Ah!" Both him and Hiroko voiced their surprise as the boy stopped in his tracks. Hiroko stumbled backwards and would have fallen over had Taira not been able to grab her shoulders.

"Hey now! Be mindful of where you're going," Taira exclaimed in annoyance as Hiroko felt her tight grip from behind, causing Hiroko's heart rate to spike drastically before she was helped to her feet.

"Oh, Sorry! I didn't realise that anyone else was here." It wasn't his fault that Hiroko and Taira didn't announce their arrival. Even then, the boy sounded genuinely apologetic. When he noticed Hiroko sympathetic gaze, he gave a bashful chuckle and nervously rub

The boy was slightly above average in height and had steely grey eyes that seemed to harbour an abundance of passion despite the lack of colour. A black cap bearing a white star on the front hid most of his hair though numerous dark, wavy strands spilt from beneath the hat to cover much of his forehead and partway down the back of his neck. He had remarkably broad shoulders for his size and looked to have enough muscle tone to suggest that he was an athlete of some kind.

He wore a black hooded jacket bearing two white hockey sticks in the shape of an X over the left side of his chest. Its zip was undone, showing a white sporting jersey with a black and ice-blue orca in making the shape of the letter C. His worn jeans that were faded around the knees and old white sneakers suggested that he was fond of his attire.

"Hey, Tanzo! Looks like we aren't the only ones after all." The boy called out to his larger companion, who was already making his way towards the girls once he heard the commotion.

The boy, who Hiroko believed was a fully grown at that point purely due to his height, stood in place with his arms crossed, his bulging muscles filling the insides of his shirt sleeves. His brawn was impossible to not notice as his physique made his fit search partner look scrawny by comparison. His blonde hair with darkened tips was slicked back to emphasize his piercing, dull-green eyes and strong chin. A small mole was located directly beneath his left eye while he wore a set of silver stud earrings on both ears.

The most distinctive aspect of his clothing was a red sea captain's jacket with gold trimmings. He didn't have his arms inside the sleeves of his oversized jacket, instead opting to let it sit over his shoulders like a cape. Each end of two gold chains were attached to both shoulders of the jacket, causing the chains to run over his burly chest.

The boy also wore an untucked white button-down shirt with a brown tie hanging from the collar. His legs were covered by dark blue jeans that had its right knee covered by a dark patch of sewn-on fabric and he also wore a pair of heavy-looking light brown boots with black laces.

"I had a feeling that that was the case…" The larger boy eyed the two girls in a way that put Hiroko on edge. She could almost feel a crushing weight causing her knees to begin to buckle.

"Hiya!" Taira greeted him in a bubbly fashion, not showing even a hint of apprehension as she spoke to the intimidating figure. "What are you guys up to?"

"Looking for a way out of here." The shorter, black-haired boy went to the other boy's side as he spoke. "It doesn't help that there's so much fog outside that it's difficult to see anything, let alone find an escape route. Did you two come here to get out of the fog as well?"

"Not me! When I woke up, I was passed out on the stairs in the entrance hall," Taira answered. "Of all the people I've asked, they all said that they were inside when they awakened."

"It's the same with me," Hiroko spoke up. "One of our friends went outside earlier to investigate by himself. I hope he's doing okay…"

"I'm sure that he'll be alright. We didn't come across anything dangerous out there." "He shouldn't get lost either since there's was a bright light shining over the building. That how Tanzo and I found this place."

"A bright light?" Hiroko questioned.

"We couldn't identify the light source due to the poor visibility." The larger boy, named Tanzo, calmly recapped as he kept his stern expression. "All that we can say for sure is that it was powerful enough to cut through the fog. Though, I admit, I can't think of what's creating that light in the first place."

"Maybe… It could have come from angels?" Hiroko found herself reaching for some sort of answer and found herself blurting out the first obscure idea that came to mind.

"What are you talking about, Hiroko? You know that angels don't really exist, right?" Taira looked at the talented seeker in disbelief. She had a similar look to the ones that Hiroko and Touma gave her when the exorcist bought up her theory about demons being responsible for their kidnapping.

"Huh?" Hiroko was left dumbfounded by Taira's reaction as the boys started giving her pitiful looks. The Ultimate Seeker eventually had to turn away from them in embarrassment. She could tell that they already had her pinned as the oddball between her and Taira, even though it was Taira's fault for putting though weird thoughts in her head in the first place.

"Anyway, the problem isn't so much the fog as it is the electrified fence surrounding this place." Tanzo forced the conversation forward after a few awkward seconds. "I attempted to hurl a rock at the gate we found, but it's deceptively sturdy. My efforts barely scratched the metal blockage."

"It was less of a rock and more like a boulder…" The other boy gave his search partner a sidewards glance as he lowered the peak of his cap to keep him from noticing the stupefied look on his face. "Oh, why don't we introduce ourselves?" The boy faced the two girls as he gave them a bright grin. "The name's Haijo Takumi. I may not look like much, but I'm actually the Ultimate Ice Hockey Player. Let's do our best!"

* * *

 **Haijo Takumi**

 **The Ultimate Ice Hockey Player**

* * *

"I can tell by looking at you two that you don't know the first thing about ice hockey. I suppose that makes my talent completely lacklustre in your eyes, eh?"

"Not at all." Hiroko smiled kindly at the peppy but unconfident boy. "I'm known as the Ultimate Seeker, so it's not anywhere near as exciting as yours must be. My name is Hiroko Soma, by the way."

"And I'm Taira Tekami. I'm known as the Ultimate Exorcist so I'm not one to judge people based on their talent." Hiroko's search partner kept the same beaming smile that she always seemed to wear as she turned to the quieter of the two boys "And who are you, big guy?"

"If you are referring to me, then I'd be willing to share my story with you."

"I'm not sure if we have time for that! Maybe you could give the girls the short version instead?" Haijo was quick to butt in on the other boy's introduction. Just by the look of worry on his face, Hiroko figured that he was doing Taira and her a favour.

"Very well. Time may be of the essence, after all." The blonde unfolded his arms and proudly puffed out his chest. "My name is Tanzo Burckhard, I'm the Ultimate Tactician who will help restore Novoselic."

* * *

 **Tanzo Burckhard**

 **The Ultimate Tactician**

* * *

"Novoselic? You mean that you were Novoselician?" Hiroko exclaimed out of surprise. Since it was arguably the nation most heavily affected by the Ultimate Despair during the Tragedy, former Novoselic citizens were extremely rare to come by.

"I still am," Tanzo stated curtly, not appreciating her choice of words. "Just because the country is in ruins, it doesn't mean that the Novoselic blood no longer runs through my veins." Feeling sad for her fellow Ultimate, Hiroko fidgeted as she worked up the courage to continue talking to him.

"I'm… sorry about what happened to your country."

"Did you have a hand causing its destruction?"

"O-Of course not!"

"Then you have no need to apologise." Hiroko felt the full impact of Tanzo's fiery gaze again as the giant stared her down. She'd never met someone so intense before. "As I said, I'll be reviving Novoselic before long."

"Do you guys mind if we have a look around?" Taira's causal words shattered the heavy atmosphere as directed everyone's attention to the storage room. "We'll try not to get in your way."

"That's fine by us." Following the exorcist's lead, Haijo eagerly responded. "This place is enormous so having a few more eyes on the scene would be a huge help."

"If you find anything you that could prove to be useful, be sure to bring it to our attention." Tanzo was content with ending the conversation there and promptly returned to his search of the room.

"You got it, Boss!" Haijo left to resume his own search before Taira looked to Hiroko with sparkling eyes. "Let's go, Hiroko! There's gotta be something that I can use around here."

* * *

 **Investigation Mode: ON**

Location: Storage Room

 **Shelves**

Hiroko: (These shelves look as though they are at least two storeys tall. Not only that, but every row looks to be filled with objects of various uses.)

Hiroko: (It would take the four of us days to inspect every inch of this place.)

Taira: How am I supposed to find a light in this place? I feel like a toddler at a supermarket with all this stuff being out of reach.

Taira: It sucks being short…

Hiroko: (I'm totally with you there, Taira…)

 **Gathered Objects**

Hiroko: (Looks like the guys have already pulled aside a whole load of things for the escape.)

Hiroko: (But, upon inspection, I don't think a lot of these things would be of any use to them.)

Taira: A rope ladder, wheelbarrow, fishing rods…

Hiroko: (Taira is digging her way through the pile like her life is depending on it.)

Taira: Ah! They have all this random crap but no lighter?

Taira: Hey fellas! Have you guys come across something I could use to light my cigarettes?

Haijo: You smoke, Taira?

Taira: Nah, I just enjoy lighting them up and gazing at them like a sparkler. Of course I smoke.

Haijo: Yeah… that was kind of a dumb question, huh?

Tanzo: We haven't found anything like that, but we can both keep it in mind as we continue to gather equipment.

Haijo: That's right! We can keep an eye out for you so you won't have to worry about a thing.

Taira: Thanks. You guys are the greatest!

Hiroko: (Taira's still acting as chipper as ever, though she seems desperate to find that lighter.)

Hiroko: (I hope that we can find something for her soon.)

 **Eastern Caged Area**

Hiroko: (There a workbench positioned just to the right of the room's entrance with a variety of building tools mounted on the back wall. However, it's surrounded by a steel chain-link cage.)

Hiroko: (The only way into the cage seems to be through a door that's locked. The scanner nearby suggests that it's electronically locked, just like the bathrooms.)

Hiroko: (There's also a hole in the cage as though someone had somehow torn it open. I could fit my arm through it, though it's way too far from the tools for me to be able to reach anything.)

Haijo: If you're wondering how that hole wound up there, Tanzo was able to force it open earlier. His strength really is something, eh?

Haijo: Say, Tanzo. Why is it that ultimate talent has nothing to do with your physical strength?

Tanzo: I'll explain it once time permits it. For now, we should focus our effort on our search.

Hiroko: Could you make the hole larger so I can reach the workbench?

Tanzo: Sorry, but that won't be possible. When I made the hole, the cage reacted by sending an electric charge through my arms.

Hiroko: Goodness! Are you alright?

Tanzo: It left some minor burns on my hands but I'm otherwise fine. I'd rather not risk touching the cage again... if that's okay with you.

Hiroko: No! I totally understand.

Hiroko: (Unless there something in this room that we can use, I guess there's no way to reach the workbench right now.)

 **Western Caged Area**

Hiroko: (This cage is identical to the one on the opposite side of the room, only there's no sign of any damage. Instead of a workbench, there's a stash of track and field equipment.)

Hiroko: (Crash mats, shotputs, javelins. Everything needed for those events could be found in here.)

Hiroko: (Why did all this stuff have to be blocked off? We would have been able to have someone pole vault over the fence outside.)

Hiroko: (Then again, even if the fence was small enough for that to work, that sounds incredibly dangerous. Hopefully Haijo and Tanzo will come up with a better idea.)

 **Haijo Takumi**

Hiroko: Mr Takumi, was it?

Haijo: Haijo's fine.

Hiroko: Okay… Haijo. What do you make of this place?

Haijo: What do I make of it? It's beyond creepy is what this place is.

Haijo: I mean, with all the fog surrounding an eerie school building… It's like this place doesn't feel real, if you get where I'm coming from.

Hiroko: Yeah… It's like we've been sucked into a nightmare.

Hiroko: (Dammit… I feel like I'm about to cry.)

Hiroko: (What did we do to end up in a place like this?!)

Haijo: Hey… Hiroko. If there's ever something you want to talk about, I'm all ears.

Haijo: I may not be able to do anything to fix the mess that we're in but I'm a good listener. If you're looking for someone to vent to, I'm your guy.

Hiroko: Thanks, Haijo. That's… really nice of you to offer.

Haijo: Just remember that you're not alone.

Hiroko: (Despite his jock-like appearance, Haijo's really sweet. He could tell that my mind was going to a dark place and was quick to comfort me.)

Hiroko: (Still… I wish that Touma hadn't wandered off into the fog by himself…)

 **Tanzo Burckhard**

Hiroko: So… Mr Burckhard… Has the search been going well?

Tanzo: Not particularly. Most of the item here might as well be junk.

Hiroko: Are you looking for anything in particular? Something that goes with any plans that you might have for getting us to the other side of the fence?

Tanzo: There's no point in devising a plan when you have no knowledge of the tools at your disposal.

Hiroko: Oh… I suppose you're right.

Hiroko: (He's really difficult to talk to. There's this vibe I'm getting from him that makes me feel like he's not interested in talking to me.)

Hiroko: (I guess that I'll leave him be.)

* * *

After inspecting the room for several minutes, Hiroko felt overwhelmed by the piles and piles of items that she had to sift through. Among the gathered objects were gardening and medical tools that were so sharp that the brunette almost cut herself on more than a few occasions.

Eventually, Hiroko caught sight of a disappointed and defeated Taira who appeared to be running her fingers through a bag of sand. It was clear that she had given up on her search of a lighter by the uncharacteristically distraught look on her face, which Hiroko interpreted as a sign that they should move on.

"Thanks for allowing us take a look around but I think that it's time for us to investigate the other rooms," Hiroko called out, drawing the other ultimate students towards her.

"Oh, is that what you two have been doing?" Haijo was the first to reach her as Tanzo and Taira arrived shortly after. "Instead of that, why don't help us with the escape? I'm sure that your talent will be useful in getting all of us out of here."

"That's true. However, I think it will be best if the girls continue looking elsewhere." Haijo was taken aback by Tanzo's conflicting opinion.

"Why's that?"

"If we can rely on the talent of the Ultimate Seeker, then Ms Soma should be searching wherever she can. If there's something in this school that could give us answers, we have to trust that she'll find it."

"That's a good point. Guess they don't call you the Ultimate Tactician for nothing."Haijo smiled sheepishly upon Tanzo convincing him so quickly. "But… is it alright for the girls to explore by themselves?"

"You don't need to worry about us!" Taira took a step forward and raised her arms, taking up some sort of combative stance. "I'm a kickboxing master, so I'll be able to able to protect myself and Hiroko. I bet I could even take out someone like you if it came to it."

"But, what about the missing bow and arrow set?" Hiroko said doubtfully. "If we don't have weapons to protect ourselves then your fighting skills might not be enough."

"Someone could be wandering around the school with a weapon?!" Haijo's eyes widened in alarm. "That settles it! We should escort the girls during their search!"

"If you feel so strongly about it, then go with them," Tanzo commanded. "I, however, will remain here and continue to devise a plan of escape."

"But then you'll be alone in here."

"That won't be an issue," Tanzo smirked as he crossed his budging arms, as though he was trying to subtly show them off. "I've trained my body to give myself the best chance of survival, no matter the situation. If a man with a bow is all that I'll be faced with, I can handle it."

"Even so, be careful." For the briefest of moments, Tanzo wore a genuinely thankful expression. Hiroko was so surprised by the sight that she thought that she was just seeing things, but the tactician's expression hardened once again.

"Now, go! We have our roles to carry out."

"Y-Yes, sir!" Tanzo didn't even acknowledge Hiroko's panicked response as he returned to the aisle he was previously searching. Just by being in his presence, the glasses-wearing girl felt like a cadet being ordered around by a drill sergeant.

As Taira attempted, and failed, to stifle a laugh at Hiroko's expense, the embarrassed brunette led her companions to the hallway where Tanzo was out of earshot.

"I don't think he likes me all that much…"

"I sure that he likes you just fine. He must just have a weird way of showing it," Haijo said, not sounding too sure himself.

"He was acting all cold to me too, but he seems to like you just fine." Taira gave the ice hockey player an inquisitive look as she took a step towards him. "I wonder… do you think it's because you're his type?"

"I-I'm sure that you're both just misunderstanding him!" Haijo waved his hands defensively. He then looked over Taira's shoulder and in Hiroko's direction. "Anyway, where's the next stop?"

"Not sure. We were just heading in this direction…"

The three Ultimates travelled down the longer of the two branching hallways where one lone door greeted them at the end of the straight. Peering around the corner where a second hallway intersected from the left, Hiroko could spot another door and the staircase that she and Touma used to reach the first floor from the second.

"This is… a science lab?" Haijo was more interested in the nearby door which, like each of the others before it, had a label denoting the name of the room. Just as Haijo said, the label read "Science Lab".

Entering the lab, the group found that there weren't any initial surprises this time. It looked every bit like a school's science lab from the benches dotted evenly around the room with empty flasks and other small laboratory equipment to the life-sized model of a human skeleton in the far corner. The security camera and monitor that appeared in all the other rooms were the only things in the room that seemed to be out-of-place.

"Oh! Do my eyes deceive me?" Taira spotted something on one of the lab benches before taking off before anyone could stop her. Once she arrived at her destination, the energetic girl grabbed hold of a small metal device that was connected to a metal tap through a tube. From where she stood, Hiroko could only guess that she was holding a burner. "This will do perfectly! Now… how to get it working…"

"Be careful with that Taira! Huh?" Haijo suddenly took notice of something else in the room, interrupting his warning. Hiroko followed the Ultimate's gaze to catch sight of a mysterious figure seated silently at another bench.

Hiroko couldn't make out too much of the person's appearance since they had their face obscured by a white bulky ball cap with a red stripe running down the centre and a yellow bandana covering their nose and mouth. What she could make out was the person's ebony skin, long black ponytail appearing from beneath their hat, diamond-shaped blue earrings dangling from both of their earlobes and a large set of violet eyes focusing intensely on what appeared to be a sketchbook. From this, Hiroko could only assume that this person was both a female and a foreigner.

It the girl's attire could be described in one word, that word could only be "colourful". Along with her hat and earrings, she wore a baggy teal blue hoodie with splashes of lime green on the inside of the hood and around her hips. A pair of three-quarter length black tights and white sneakers made up the final touches of her outfit.

"Hey," Haijo greeted the girl as he approached her while Hiroko trailed a little further behind him. Upon closer inspection, the Ultimate Seeker recognised that the other girl was several inches taller than her.

The mysterious girl's eyes darted up towards Haijo with a neutral and somewhat vacant look. Without the slightest change in her expression, at least from what Hiroko could tell, the girl looked back down at the A3 sized paper in front of her as continues stroking the tip of her pencil across the surface.

"What's that you're doing? Are you drawing?" At a loss with how to proceed, Haijo circled behind the girl to get a peek at the paper. The girl didn't react, continuing to work on her sketch as Hiroko joined Haijo in peering the girl's shoulder.

It was an image drawn using only a dark lead pencil but even without any colour, the drawing vivid and dense in detail. The subject itself was rather basic, a hand curled in a fist bursting through a brick wall, yet Hiroko could feel a storm of emotion just at a glance. The bruising around the knuckles, the heavy shading on the bricks the subtle wrinkles covering the fist not only gave her a feeling of anguish, longing and hope all at once, but for the longest time convinced her that the fist was about to burst through the paper itself.

"Hey! This is… really good." Haijo was similarly captivated by the drawing, though an indifferent look from the artist made him realise his inappropriate choice of words. "Sorry. Just saying it's good doesn't really do your drawing justice, eh? The name's Haijo Takumi, by the way. I'm the Ultimate Ice Hockey Player."

"I'm Hiroko Soma, Ultimate Seeker. You're an Ultimate too, right?" Hiroko could only assume with those skills of hers that her Ultimate Talent would involve her drawing abilities.

The girl held her gaze over the two students for an additional moment before reaching down the leg of the stool she was seated at to grab a small whiteboard and a marker. The girl took her time writing something on the board before turning it towards them.

'My name is Ntombi Thulile. I am the Ultimate Graffiti Artist. It is nice meeting you both.'

* * *

 **Ntombi Thulile**

 **The Ultimate Graffiti Artist**

* * *

"N-tom-bi? Am I saying it right?" Haijo asked with uncertainty before Ntombi erased the whiteboard with the sleeve of her hoodie and wrote in a brief message before showing it once again.

'Close enough.'

"I hope so. I don't want to come across as rude if I keep mispronouncing your name." Haijo grinned sheepishly as Ntombi cleared her board again and wrote a longer message, all without uttering a single word.

'Do either of you two know what we are doing here?'

"We haven't got a clue right now. That's why we're in the middle of searching this place," Hiroko spoke in a sad tone. Seeing yet girl her age trapped inside of the school made her desire to understand what happened to them grow even more. "If we learn anything, we'll let you know right away."

Ntombi nodded solemnly. Hiroko thought that she could sense the worry in the artist's eyes as she resumed working on her drawing.

"Eureka!" Suddenly, Taira yelled out from the other side of the room as she stared hypnotically at the blue flame emitting from the burner. "Thank you, Prometheus, for your divine gift to us mortals…"

"Hang on, Taira! You can't use that for your cigarette!" Haijo was quick to approach the exorcist. "That burner's fire is way too hot for that!"

"Relaaax. I'll be careful with it." After dismissing the Ultimate's concern, Taira steadily moved her face towards the flame's centre with her cigarette wedged between her lips. The tip didn't even touch the fire before the tobacco-stuffed paper suddenly ignited. Caught by surprise, Taira jerked backwards, nearly falling backwards off her stool. Her wide-eyed expression then swiftly changed to one of smugness when she confirmed that she didn't start any unintentional fires. "There! You see? It's perfectly safe."

"You're lucky that you didn't lose an eyebrow doing that!"

"Calm down. You're too high-strung." Taira started to sound annoyed as she held out the packet containing the rest of her cigarettes towards Haijo. "One of these bad boys will help you cool off."

"I'll pass. Especially if it means that I'd have to put my face near that burner!"

"Your loss." Taira took a long drag from her cigarette, looking thoroughly satisfied as she placed the packet back in her pocket.

Meanwhile, Ntombi had stopped drawing her sketches at some point and was watching Taira and Haijo bickering. Hiroko thought that the artist was getting bothered by the noise until she noticed how absorbed Ntombi was in their discussion. From what Hiroko understood, Ntombi seemed happy enough observing the pair.

"Hey, guys. We should really continue our search." Hiroko didn't want to get in the way of their banter, but the reality was that the three of them had a job to do.

"I just need a minute to enjoy this." Taira breathed in more of the cigarette's smoke with a blissful look on her face. "I'll be right here if you need me."

"I guess that just leaves us." Haijo sent a judgemental glance at Taira from under his hat. "This place seems like a typical school science lab, but it wouldn't hurt to look around while Taira's kicking her feet up."

"Hey!" Taira called out. "Don't say it like I'm slacking off!"

"But isn't that exactly what you're doing?" Taira stuck her tongue out at the athlete before returning her focus to her cigarette.

"Taira can take a break from searching," Hiroko said. "I don't want to disturb her when she's enjoying herself."

"Thank you, Hiroko~!" Taira beamed with the widest smile the Ultimate Seeker had seen yet.

"Fair enough," Haijo could bring himself to dispute Hiroko's reasoning. Instead, he gave her an enthusiastic nod signalling that he was ready. "Well, let's get to it then."

* * *

 **Investigation Mode: ON**

Location: Science Lab

 **Cupboard**

Hiroko: (The large cupboard in the corner of the room has a warning label attached. Apparently, there are some dangerous substances inside.)

Haijo: Are you sure that it's a good idea to open it?

Hiroko: We need to search wherever we can if we don't want to miss any clues. Besides, I don't smell anything… I think.

Haijo: Is that meant to be reassuring?

Hiroko: Look, if there's a spilt bottle or anything dangerous-looking in there, I'll close it right away.

Hiroko: (Due to Haijo's scepticism, I had to gather all my courage just to peek into the contents of the cupboard.)

Hiroko: (Thankfully, nothing in here looks too suspicious. That is… if you ignore all the small bottles with hazard signs on their labels.)

Haijo: Cough-45, E.t.N.D., SZ-9… I'm no science nerd, but the names on all these bottles sound like complete nonsense.

Hiroko: And reading through a few of the labels, they're apparently dangerous too.

Haijo: Maybe we should leave them alone. The last thing we want to do is to accidentally poison ourselves.

Haijo: Jeez… You'd think that stuff like this would be locked up in some place where it wouldn't be so easy for students to get their hands on.

Hiroko: (If this really was a school, there wouldn't be stuff like this lying around in the first place.)

Hiroko: (Of course, it's already clear that this place couldn't be further from a regular school…)

 **Burner**

Hiroko: (It's the Bunsen burner that Taira used earlier. I can't help but notice that even this piece of laboratory equipment has some strange anomalies too.)

Hiroko: Hey, Taira? Can I ask how you got this burner to turn on?

Taira: Oh? Are you interested in joining me for a smoke break?

Hiroko: That's not it. I just realised that this burner doesn't have a way to toggle the air flow. I also can't work out how to turn the gas on.

Taira: I can't help you with air flow but getting the gas running is easy. I just pressed my thumb on the small rectangle panel and it lit up right away.

Hiroko: Wait… A fingerprint scanner?

Taira: It's not like that's the only strange thing we've seen in this place.

Taira: Frankly, I'm just glad that I found a way to make use of my cigarettes.

Hiroko: (I wish that I could be as carefree as you right now, Taira.)

 **Skeleton Model**

Hiroko: (This life-size model… There's something off about it.)

Haijo: Talk about creepy with a capital C. What if… this thing is a real skeleton!

Hiroko: W-Why would you say that?! O-Of course it's not!

Taira: Don't worry. That's just a model skeleton. An impressively realistic one, but still just a model.

Haijo: How could you say that so confidently? You don't handle human remains as part of your work, do you?

Taira: I don't often, though being an exorcist has led to me carry out rituals that, to put it lightly, can be a little fucked up sometimes.

Haijo: I-I see…

Hiroko: …

Haijo: Ah, Hiroko… Your glaring is… really starting to scare me.

Hiroko: (I bet it's nothing compared to fright you gave me earlier, you jerk!)

Hiroko: (Jeez… Being stuck in here is making far more paranoid than I thought was even possible.)

 **Ntombi Thulile**

Hiroko: So… Ntombi. You… don't mind if use your first name, right?

Hiroko: (Her surname is too difficult to pronounce, and I'll probably make a fool out of myself if I ever tried.)

Ntombi: 'I do not mind.'

Hiroko: (Ntombi is continuing to use her whiteboard to communicate. I wonder if she's just shy… or could she really be a mute?)

Hiroko: Have you seen anyone else wondering around the school? Maybe someone luscious-looking?

Ntombi: 'I have been too busy with my sketches to notice anyone. You guys are the fist people I have seen today.'

Hiroko: "Fist people?"

Hiroko: (Ntombi looked back at the board and noticed the spelling error. I could just make out her cheeks turning red beneath her bandana as she urgently replaced the message.)

Ntombi: 'FIRST!'

Hiroko: Oh, of course. I should have noticed that that was what you were meaning to say. Sorry…

Hiroko: (Ntombi shook her head, still visibly embarrassed as she continued working on her drawing.)

Hiroko: (Her Japanese must not be so great, but it's clear that she's a foreigner. I never was great at English, so I understand how difficult talking to us must be for her.)

 **Door leading to Joining Room**

Hiroko: (This door doesn't lead to the hallway, but a neighbouring room.)

Hiroko: (It must go to the same room as that door I spotted down the hallway.)

Hiroko: (I guess I should see if there's anything in there.)

* * *

"Hey, Haijo," Hiroko called out to the ice hockey star as she peered through the ajar door. "There's another room over here that I haven't seen before. I'll go on ahead and give it a search."

"Got it. I'll be with you shortly." Haijo continued to scour the crowded benchtops as Hiroko stepped into the dark room, leaving the door open behind her.

It appeared as though Hiroko had stepped into another classroom, only there were no windows and no other source of lighting. The light switch by the doorway didn't do anything to brighten the darkness, leaving the brunette to navigate the room using only the light streaming in from the science lab to navigate.

Just as Hiroko thought that searching in the dark would be a waste of time, she felt her gut feeling signalling to her as she saw the light from the neighbouring room shine on a magazine rack against the wall.

Finally… she could sense a clue after searching for so long.

Making her way carefully to the rack, Hiroko ran her fingers over the many paperback covers, waiting for her instincts to guide her. She didn't need to use her eyes, instead placing total faith in her talent. When that tinkling sensation rematerialised in her fingers once again, Hiroko grasped the small booklet that her hand happened to be hovering over.

After pulling it from the stand, she moved the booklet into the light so she could read the large font on the cover of the pamphlet.

'Guiding Light Academy'

Suddenly, the lights in the room turned on, momentarily dazing Hiroko as her eyes had to readjust from the rapid change in lighting. After taking a few blinks to readjust her vision, the short girl could feel an aggressive and piercing gaze focusing on the back of her head. With hairs standing up on the back of her neck, Hiroko was too frightened to move or make a sound as she heard the tightening of a bow right behind her.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Another month, another part of the prologue completed! A part of me is pleased that I got to introduce some more of the final cast, though I'm not particularly happy with how quickly the prologue is coming together. As long as the delay isn't too much of a turn-off for anyone, I'm glad that I can take the time that I need to write these characters and this story to the best of my abilities.

Hopefully, I've made plenty of character creators proud with my depictions of their characters so far, even if I decided to make the odd tweak with some of them. Building the characters from the submission form was a little more challenging than I thought but I'd like to think that I've been doing reasonably well so far. Regardless of everyone's thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

There are at least five more students to be revealed in the final part to make a cast of 16. I've strongly considered upping the total to 18 so there's still plenty of room for those who still wish to submit. Submissions close when the last part is posted so consider this to be your final warning.

That's it from me. Apologises for the wait and I hope to count on you all to be there when the prologue comes to a close.


	6. Prologue: Part 4

**Prologue: From Ambitus Dreams to the Ultimate Nightmare: The Revival of DanganRonpa, Part 4**

"Keep your hands where I can see them and turn towards me. Slowly."

A measured, stern voice rung within the walls of the classroom, causing Hiroko to immediately drop the pamphlet raise her hands above her head. From the voice, the Ultimate Seeker could make out that it belonged to a male, but the arrow pointed at her back had her scared so stiff that she couldn't bring herself to look.

"Now!" Hiroko jumped as the voice demanded her to hurry up. Violently trembling and too afraid to even make a sound, the brunette forced her eyes closed and slowly pivoted until she faced the source of the voice.

Was this person the one responsible for everyone's kidnapping? What was he planning to do to her? Was she going to be alright?

"Wait!" Just as Hiroko was preparing to open her eyes, a shadow was cast over the girl small stature before she knew as Haijo leap in front of her. "What are you doing?!"

"I was planning to interrogate the girl," the threatening boy, who Hiroko couldn't see from behind Haijo broad shoulders, spoke in an unremorseful and matter-of-fact manner. "I've been taken from my homeland and demand an explanation!"

"You aren't the only one who's confused right now, okay?" Haijo did his best to keep his composure, though there was a shakiness in his voice that failed to hide his nervousness. "None of us know why we're here in the first place."

"Really…" The bow-wielder paused, forming a tense silence that only made Hiroko more fearful about what was to come. "How I can I be sure you're not trying to deceive me?"

"I-I don't know." The ice hockey star was momentarily flustered before settling himself with a deep, calming breath. "Look, I don't know what you plan on doing, but if you're going to hurt anyone, leave Hiroko out of it."

"Haijo!" Hiroko hadn't realised that she had grasped the back of his hoodie until then, as though she was subconsciously supporting him.

"You can torture me until you're satisfied if that's what you want, but I'm telling you, we're not hiding anything."

"W-Wait!" Hiroko yanked him towards her in a panic. With the size difference between the pair, however, Haijo barely budged. "That would be-"

Haijo stopped her mid-speech when he peered at her from over his shoulder. His expression was surprisingly calm despite Hiroko knowing that it contrasted with his true feelings. As his lips curled into a reassuring smile, the glasses-wearing girl felt her anxiety start to slip away, even if the situation she was in was the direst she'd experienced since waking up in the mystery school.

"So… what's it gonna be?" Haijo faced the man almost as though he'd became a different person, someone who was more confident and surer of himself than the Haijo that Hiroko met in the storage room earlier.

The scene was then consumed by silence once again. It was now the bowman's turn to respond and even though Hiroko couldn't see him, she swore that she could hear the gears turning in his head as he considered his next move.

"You really are willing to risk your life for this girl, like how a mother bear would do the same for her cubs. I respect that." The loss in tension on the bow's string could be heard as the boy lowered his weapon. "I'll refrain from pointing my arrow your way. However, I'll be keeping my eyes on you and your friends, so you better not do anything suspicious."

"T-That's fine, I suppose." Overcome with relief, Haijo let his fearless façade crumble somewhat. Hiroko started to relax a little as well until someone jumped on her from outside of her vision.

"Hiroko!" After watching the confrontation from the behind the doorway, Taira ran in and pulled the glasses-wearing teen into a hug tight enough to squeeze the air out of her lungs. "Are you okay?! I was so worried! Why did you wander off by yourself like that?!"

"C-Calm down, Taira. I'm sorry for scaring you, so can you give me some space?" Hiroko was secretly happy from the heart-warming display of emotion, though it was still embarrassing to garner so much attention from people who were still strangers to her. It was a small consolation that Ntombi wasn't around to see it, though it led Hiroko to wonder where she was. Everyone else in the science lab was in the room with her so the graffiti artist should have heard the commotion too.

"Fine…" The exorcist seemed a little reluctant but eventually released her. Switching her focus to the unidentified boy on the other side of the room, Taira glared at her with a fiery scowl. "What the hell is your problem?! Do you get off on terrorising defenceless girls or something?"

"Get off on?" The boy repeated in a level-headed fashion despite sounding genuinely confused. "You mean like stepping on them while dismounting from a tree branch?"

"Never mind…" Taira's temper dampened somewhat as she quickly gave up on the idea of explaining the term to him. Free from the black-haired girl's grasp, Hiroko was able to see past Haijo and get her first glimpse of her tormentor.

The first thing that Hiroko noticed was that the boy was only two or three inches taller than her. The Ultimate Seeker was expecting the owner of that intense, fearful voice to have a similar stature as someone like Tanzo. Regardless, he somehow managed to have a more intimidating appearance than the hulking tactician.

His blonde hair was styled in a crew cut and a small amount of stubble of the same colour was present on his face. His skin complexion was very tan as though he had spent his entire life basking in the sun. Combined with his blood red eyes and an incredibly fit build, the boy fitted the description of a terrifying drill sergeant despite his size.

The main element of his attire was his lime green hooded jacket with forest green leather sleeves. He also donned a pair of black leather sports gloves, tactical pants with a forest green cameo design, and black combat boots. Around his neck was string necklace with a lone arrowhead attached. He still held onto the dark green quiver and had a quiver of matching colour attached to his back.

"So… should we introduce ourselves?" Haijo, wanting to avoid getting on bad terms with a guy holding a dangerous weapon, was eager to move the discussion in a constructive direction. "My name is Haijo Takumi, the Ultimate Ice Hockey Player. I sincerely hope that we can work together."

"Ah… I'm Hiroko Soma, the Ultimate Seeker. I want us to get along." The meek girl was quick to follow the hockey player's example, though it was obvious at a glance of Taira's piercing glare that the third person in the trio wasn't going to drop the incident so easily. "T-This is Taira. She's an Ultimate as well."

"So are you going to give us your name? Or do we have to threaten you with a weapon for that to happen?"

"Taira!" Haijo snapped, afraid that her attitude was about to invite more trouble.

"There won't be any no need for that." Both Haijo and Hiroko was thankful for how swiftly the blonde shrugged off the exorcist's sharp words, though the latter of the two suspected that he may not have picked up on the combative matter that Taira spoke those words in. "My name is Yajima Robin, grandson to the Chieftain of the Ao Akita Tribe. I serve as a protector of my tribe."

"I see…" The hat-wearing athlete was careful with how he chose his words as though he was stepping around eggshells. "And you're an Ultimate as well, yeah?"

"Correct. While I don't take as much pride in my Ultimate title as I do with my tribal duties, I'm also known as the Ultimate Archer."

* * *

 **Yajima Robin**

 **The Ultimate Archer**

* * *

"While I don't intend to use my bow to coax anything out of any of you, I do expect that you all share any information you may have with me. If there's anything that needs to be said, now's the time."

"Ah, well…" Yajima's straightforwardness caught Haijo momentarily off guard, but he was able to get his thoughts in order. "Everyone we've all met so far are Ultimates, this building is surrounded by an electrified fence…"

"And the heavy fog outside makes it impossible to work out where we are," Taira added. "Oh, and everyone we bumped into doesn't have a clue how we ended up here in the first place. I hate to disappoint, but all we have for you are more questions."

"I see…" Yajima stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Is it normal practise for schools in modern civilisations to hide information from their pupils like this?"

"No way!" Haijo exclaimed, quickly dismissing the question. "I've heard that Hope's Peak Academy was odd with the way it developed the Ultimates' talents for the longest time, but there's no way this is their doing."

"Ah! Hang on!" Hiroko crouched down and picked up the pamphlet that she dropped earlier. Luckily, Haijo and Taira didn't trod on it when they rushed into the room. "I think this proves that this isn't the Academy isn't responsible for the kidnapping."

"What is it?" Taira leaned over Hiroko's shoulder as she peered at the paper, the spirited girl's curiosity distracting her from the fact that her face was mere millimetres away from her bespectacled companion.

"I'm… not sure." Feeling self-conscious and a little warm in the face from the exorcist's close proximity to her, Hiroko handed the brochure to Haijo as Yajima gathered with everyone else to get a clear look at the cover page. "I had a gut feeling that it might be important, so…"

"Guiding Light Academy…" Haijo read the title out loud for everyone to hear. "Does that sound familiar to anyone?"

With more time to take in the image on the cover, Hiroko could make take notice of the image of the tall building printed in the background. The exterior was mostly exposed brick laid with the odd white column that protruded from the wall between each window and across the width of the large front door. The building stood at five stories and reflected an elite, yet slightly daunting image as a crest of a white pillar shining brightly above a globe of the world was proudly displayed above the front door.

"Could that be the name of this school?" Hiroko questioned, noticing that the door in the image was identical to the door that Touma and Taira were able to unlock earlier.

"I can't say for certain." Haijo scratched his head beneath the cap on his head. "I couldn't get a good look at the buildings exterior with all the fog, but I guess that's possible."

"The chances of us learning anything might be slim, but we can try showing-"

An eerie chime rung throughout the halls of the entire school. The tones it produced exactly what one would expect at a regular high school, yet it sounded as ominous as any sound as it echoed down the empty corridors outside of the classroom.

"Ahem! Testing, testing!"

Hiroko's heart rate spiked again as a cheerful, feminine voice sung out from the speakers inside the room. The bright voice only added to the unsettling uncertainty that left every student in the room holding their breath.

"Testing… testing…." The voice on the other side of the speaker sounded more doubtful and nervous as she repeated the word, quickly defusing any tension from the room. "Testingtestingtestingtestingtestingtestingtes-"

Suddenly, the voice was interrupted by the sharp, unpleasant sound of the live microphone getting smacked. The students winced as the speakers produced some ruffling sounds before a second voice rung through the room.

"Ya don't have to keep saying 'testing'! It's obviously working!" The second voice was guff and undoubtedly masculine, heavily contrasting the initial voice.

"Are you sure?" The first voice asked, a little further in the background as the microphone was evidently taken from its owner. "Maybe I should say it a few more times, just to be certain."

"If I let you do that, you'd be saying it 'til these punks starve to death. Where the hell will the entertainment be in that?!" The second voice bellowed. "Besides, the less I have to hear coming out of that ugly mouth of yours, the better I sleep at night."

"O-Oh my… I never knew that you spent your nights lying awake in your bed… thinking about me…" Even while they were further away from the microphone, the first person could be heard swooning. "You're so romantic…"

"Screw you!" Hiroko couldn't get a grasp on what the relationship between the two people was as the one with the gruff voice begun to speak directly into the microphone. "Listen up, ya oxygen-sucking planktons! I'm starting to get bored as shit watching you all scrambling like a bunch of headless chooks, so we're going to get things moving! Head to the gym on the first floor and don't delay, you hear!"

"This has been an announcement from the Guiding Light Academy Board of Directors," the cheerful voice could be heard yelling before the school halls returned to complete silence.

In the pause that followed, Hiroko couldn't do anything but stand in place with her mouth agape, stunned by the strange announcement. The voices themselves weren't all that terrifying… but there was something about them that was eerily familiar. They gave Hiroko an ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach that started making her break in a cold sweat.

"Could that have been our captors?" Yajima was the first to speak as his eyes frantically darted around the room. "Where are you hiding?! Show yourselves!"

"Ah, Yajima?" Haijo spoke. "They were speaking through the intercom. They aren't in this room with us."

"What? In-ter-com?" The heavily tanned archer looked blankly at the hockey star.

"The speakers by the room monitor," Taira frowned, not in the mood to lend patience someone who was threatening her friends mere minutes ago. "Were you raised without electricity or something?!"

"Naturally! The Ao Akita Tribe has maintained their way of living for centuries. Many of your so-called advancements are unheard of to us," Yajima informed her proudly with a furrowed brow. "If they claim to be waiting for us by the gym, I will begin the hunt there." The red-eyed boy looked determined as he headed back towards the door leading to the hallway.

"Wait! You're going there by yourself?" Hiroko called out to him out of concern, leading to the pint-sized warrior facing the group once more.

"Do not worry. With a bow in hand, our captors would be foolish to show themselves." He flashed a confident smirk while bearing a bloodthirsty gaze before muttering as he vanished down the hallway. "If they do… I intend to make short work of them."

Hiroko and the other watched him leave with unease, though she was glad that the potentially dangerous individual had taken his leave.

"I'm sure that he'll be fine… assuming that he even knows what a gym looks like." Haijo was understandably as shaken as Hiroko considering that he had a deadly weapon pointed at him. To his credit, he didn't dwell on his own feelings as he turned his attention to the strange announcement. "So that voice mentioned Guiding Light Academy, didn't it? I guess the pamphlet that Hiroko found was related to this place after all."

"Good find, Hiroko! Just as expected of the Ultimate Seeker." Taira was eager to praise the glasses-wearing girl, though Hiroko was hesitant to accept it.

"I'm not so sure that this is even all that useful though…" The brunette took the pamphlet back from Haijo and quickly flicked through the pages beyond the cover. "The text in here is incredibly dense, but nothing in here seems like it will be of any use."

"Well, we won't know for sure until we put some time into reading what it has to say," Taira suggested, hopefully. "There could be something in there."

"But that will have to wait," Haijo interjected. "Shouldn't we listen to the announcement and head towards the gym?"

"Why should we go along with whatever that voice tells us?" The exorcist was resistant to the idea. Looking to the Ultimate Seeker, Taira expected her more cautious companion to be against it as well.

"We don't know what will happen if we choose to ignore them," Hiroko spoke in a soft, nervous voice. She didn't even want to think about what the consequences would be if they tried running from their captors. With all the cameras positioned around the building, hiding was out of the question anyway.

"I guess there's no arguing with that." Taira crossed her arms, disappointed that they didn't have any other choice.

"Is Ntombi still waiting for us in the science room?" Haijo's question almost immediately sparked a stunned response from Taira as her eyes widened in realisation.

"Shoot! I completely forgot!" The girl urgently bolted for the science lab. Haijo watched her take off with a vexed expression before he followed her with Hiroko in tow.

Returning to the previous room, Hiroko looked to where she last saw Ntombi. To her dismay, she was no longer there or anywhere in the lab. Taira frantically looked around the room until it was obvious that she wasn't around, then turned to Haijo sheepishly.

"She was here just a moment ago. It's fine though. I bet she heard the announcement and already took off."

"We better hope so." The star athlete rubbed his temple, clearly unimpressed with Taira's lack of urgency. "Anyway, I thought I told you to keep an eye on her. That archer might not be the only person carrying weapons around. She could get hurt." Haijo's last sentence seemed to have triggered something in the normally cheerful girl as her expression darkened.

"I know! I didn't think it mattered. She didn't notice what was going on in the other room, so I thought that she wouldn't go anywhere," the dark-haired teen yelled, annoyed by Haijo's scolding as she was grasped by a wave of emotion that seemingly came out of nowhere. "I couldn't sit still when I heard that guy yelling at you two. I was about ready to charge in there and kick that guy's ass because I thought that one of you was about to get hurt! What… what the hell was I supposed to do?!"

Taira was physically trembling as she was barely keeping herself together. Haijo quickly dropped his judgemental glare and Hiroko made her way towards the paralysed girl and placed a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"Please don't be upset." Looking for the best way to comfort her, Hiroko pulled her into a hug. "It's probably just like you said… She could have gone to the gym once the announcement was broadcasted." Taira was initially surprised by the physical contact but chose to respond by wrapping her own arms around the brunette.

While she intended to console her friend, Hiroko found a calming comfort in Taira's embrace that she didn't know that she needed. It was like Touma said not all that long ago, lending and receiving support from others would help her remain hopeful in even the most difficult of times.

"Sorry… I'm acting like a jerk." Haijo sounded emotionally drained as he took off his cap, adding to the compassionate delivery of his words. "I don't mean to start any fights. I just want to make sure that everyone safe, you know."

The three students took the time to recover from the emotionally-charged moment, wallowing in the resulting silence. Taira's often ever-present smile slowly returned in a more subdued state as she broke off her hug with Hiroko.

"Since you put your body on the line for Hiroko, I guess I can let you off the hook this once," the exorcist sounded smugly, acting as though she was doing Haijo a massive favour. However, her expression changed a short time later, averting her eyes as she looked as though needed to get something off her chest. "But you're right. I should have thought more about Ntombi before rushing in… Sorry."

"It's alright." Haijo was quick to accept the apology and was willing to get back to business. "Let's go to the gym. Ntombi could be there and we'd have been worrying for nothing."

"In that case, you guys can follow me," said Taira, finally looking like her old self. "I found the gym earlier while I was wandering about by myself. Onwards!"

Taira had already made it to the hallway door as the remaining Ultimates followed. Haijo and Hiroko lagged a little further behind, the latter found herself stealing glances of the star athlete. Recalling his actions when he saw her cornered in the empty classroom, the Ultimate Seeker knew that she had to say something.

"Hey, Haijo…"

"Yeah?" Haijo halted and faced to Hiroko as the pair stepped back into the hallway. Upon receiving the Ultimate Ice Hockey player's attention, the meek girl couldn't stop fidgeting as her eye darted between his face and her hands as her shyness took hold of her.

"Well, uh… when you shielded me from that guy…" Hiroko struggled to find the rest of the words, but Haijo's kind smile showed that he was able to detect her appreciation.

"Don't sweat it. I wouldn't be able to live it down if I stood by and didn't do anything. We're a team, after all." Haijo placed his cap back on his head. Coupled with the confidence in his voice, she felt that she could finally see what made him extraordinary. The faith he seemed to have in himself and everyone he met was something to behold.

"A team…" Hiroko somehow felt reassured upon hearing these words. Despite being deemed an Ultimate, the short teenager didn't see herself as a particularly strong or reliable person. So the thought of having people in her corner, like Haijo and Taira, to back her up sat well with her. "I like the sound of that."

"You do? I was expecting you to think that I sounded lame the moment I said it. Heh, that's what most of my friends would tell me whenever I utter the word 'team'."

"True. Now that I think about it, you did sound like a bit of a dork…"

"Hey!" The ice hockey star was taken aback by the cheeky comment to the point that he physically recalled. "That wasn't permission for you to take a pot shot at me as well!"

"Sorry!" Hiroko giggled light-heartedly, feeling much more relaxed now that the conflicts were behind her. "But, while I mean what I said, you also sounded… pretty cool… in a way."

"You're not just taking pity on me, are you?" Haijo was initially cautious, the impact of Hiroko's earlier words still affecting him. However, upon noticing her bashfully looking down at her hands, he became self-conscious as he realised that the compliment was genuine. "If not… then I'm glad that you think so."

"Time out, you two!" Watching the interaction from a little further down the corridor, Taira eventually interrupted the increasingly tender moment by calling out to the pair. "Is now really the best time to be flirting with each other?"

"We weren't-!"

"I know what I saw." Taira swept aside Haijo's refusal, shooting him a teasing smirk. Hiroko was at least relieved that she wasn't upset with their stalling. Strangely enough, the exorcist seemed to welcome the positive discussions compared to the in-fighting she was involved in earlier. "Come on! I thought that you were both in a rush to get to the gym."

Careless as ever, Taira cheerfully hummed to herself as she strode back down the hallway, leaving her red-faced companions standing awkwardly beside each other. While she wanted to apologise to Haijo for contributing to his embarrassment, Hiroko was too embarrassed herself to say anything. The bespectacled teen ended up dashing after Taira without uttering a sound, even if she knew that she'd feel bad about it later. With an irritated sigh, Haijo accelerated into a jog until he caught up the girls.

* * *

The trip to the gym was short, but eerily silent one with the tension returning to the group with each step. The three Ultimates didn't cross paths with anyone else on the way to their destination. Once they arrived, however, the group opened the double doors to find that they were far from alone.

Scattered around the reflective gym floor, there were around ten people, all of them of high school age. Some of them were engaged in conversation with each other, while others had chosen to retreat to the edges of the room to keep their distance from the other occupants.

"There sure are a lot of people here, hey?" Haijo seemed at least a little relieved to find so many of them, likely finding comfort in numbers.

"I've already met a few of them earlier, though I think there are some people missing…" Taira said as she scanned the faces of the teenagers. Like the exorcist, Hiroko could also recognise some of the faces that she'd crossed paths with over the course of her investigation. "Oh! I see Ntombi! Thank the stars…"

Sure enough, Taira pointed towards one of the figures sitting against the wall, her colourful attire helping her stand out from the other individuals. As Hiroko observed every person from afar, she realised something that made her heart sink.

"Touma's not here…" Hiroko suddenly felt a chill consume her body as she uttered those painful words. Taira and Haijo looked turned to her direction to find that the Ultimate Seeker's expression had soured drastically.

"That's your friend that went outside the building, right?" Haijo had been scanning the faces in the crowd for a certain someone as well, though he seemed nowhere near as bothered when the hockey star couldn't find him. "Tanzo's not here either, but they'll both be here soon. I bet they're on their way here right now."

"Could he have heard the announcement from outside the school? What if something bad happens to him if he doesn't make it soon?" Hiroko couldn't even hear Haijo's reassuring words as she felt herself slipping back into the spiral of fear and uncertainty. "Maybe I should go look for him!"

"Hold up, Hiroko!" As the small Ultimate took a step back out the door, Taira grasped her arm to keep her from fleeing. "You're getting too worked up. Just try and chill for a second."

"But-!" Before the panicked girl could refute, Taira grasped both of her shoulders tightly enough to snap her out of her depressing rut.

"Hiroko! Just breath for a second, girl." The Ultimate Exorcist's red eyes gazed sternly into Hiroko's own green set, looking to have quickly discarded her easy-going attitude in its entirety. "Listen, the guy may be a pervert, but he's clearly capable of looking after himself. There's no need to panic."

"Y-You're right." The brown-haired girl could feel her slender shoulders gradually rid themselves of their pent-up tension in as Taira relieved the pressure from her hands.

Hiroko knew that Taira was right… maybe not about Touma being a pervert, but about how he was the calmest and most level-headed out of all the students she'd met thus far. Knowing this, she couldn't believe that the stage actor would end up lost or hurt so easily.

"It's your turn to take it easy now. You won't do yourself any good by exhausting yourself" Seeing that Hiroko had returned to her senses, Taira's smile returned to her face as though it had never left. The exorcist looked to her other companion in the form of the Ultimate Ice Hockey Player with a determined glint in her eye. "Let's move, Haijo."

"Oh. We're leaving?" He was clearly not on the same wavelength as the exorcist, taken by surprise by her order.

"Of course!" Taira exclaimed. "Hiroko has a point. The guy might not be able to hear the intercom if he's outside."

"That makes sense, but is it alright to leave Hiroko here?"

"You're seriously not expecting me to search for him by myself, right?" Taira appeared almost offended as Haijo was reluctant to accompany her. "Is it because I'm not your type?"

"I didn't say anything about you doing it alone… and what has that got to do with anything?!" Haijo shot an annoyed look at the smaller girl, not a fan of being accused of favouritism. For the sake of not wasting any more time, Taira ignored his outburst.

"She'll be just fine. We've met a lot of the people here already. We can trust them to look out for her."

"If you say so…" Haijo still wore an uneasy express as he turned to Hiroko and gave her a solemn nod. "Take care of yourself."

"You too. Both of you."

Taira flashed the talented seeker a confident smirk before heading back out the gym along with Haijo.

Despite sharing the open room with several other students, Hiroko felt as though she was alone for the first time since Touma found her in that dark storage room. Now that she was no longer busying herself with investigating the school, she felt lost, unsure about what she should do while she waited for her friends to return. For a moment she regrated not pushing to join them in their search of Touma, though she was aware that she was completely exhausted. She just had to trust that everything will work out in the end.

Feeling nervous after seeing a lot of unfamiliar faces, Hiroko stood silently away from the centre of the room. The small girl kept to herself as she observed the students before one of them recognised her.

"Hey, Hiroko!" The friendly voice that called out to her was one that she remembered hearing at the beginning of the investigation. The Ultimate Seeker turned to the direction of the noise to find a spiky, dark-haired boy that she ran into with Touma earlier.

"Hayate. I'm glad you're doing okay."

"Right back at you." The Ultimate Prankster was beaming as he stood in front of Hiroko, though she was able to notice that he looked slightly paler since they last met, perhaps due to tiredness or stress. That said, the girl suspected that she wouldn't look too much different considering what she had gone through because of Yajima.

"Have you been able to find your sister?" Hayate's face quickly darkened, signalling that it wasn't going well.

"You couldn't find her either…" A painful silence followed as the stress on jacket-wearing boy's face became more evident, the hope that he held onto seeming to vanish.

"If she was here, she would have heard the announcement too, right? If that's the case, then she will have to be here soon." Feeling guilty for not having any good news for him, Hiroko did her best to quickly reassure him. Hayate's tired smile showed that he appreciated the effort, though little else about him changed.

"I never thought of that. Still, I can't stop worrying about her. What if…" The Ultimate Prankster stopped mid-sentence as he could bring himself to voice those worst-case scenarios. "…I'm gonna keep asking around."

Just as he said this, the nearby doors were pushed open as another teenager walked into the gym.

A mature-looking woman scanned her surroundings with her sharp, exceedingly dark brown eyes from behind her dark pair of thin-rimmed glasses. She had black, short-cropped hair that appeared to have been meticulously styled and a bronze skin tone that was likely applied through a small amount of foundation that suggested that the girl went into great lengths to maintain her appearance. Her thin physique, pronounced cheekbones and angular facial features gave Hiroko the immediate impression that she had the personality of a shrewd businesswoman.

Her attire only seemed to reinforce that image. A white, sleeveless frill top and black, knee-length pencil skirt fitted nicely around her frame with the only accessory being in the form of an expensive, silver wristwatch strapped around her right wrist. It was somewhat bulky, but it still managed to add to her professional, yet stylish appearance. The black pumps that she wore gave her a few additional inches that allowed her to stand slightly taller than Hayate.

"Excuse me!" The prankster moved to get the attention of the girl, even if she didn't appear to be the most friendly-looking person around. Hayate waited for her sharp gaze to switch its focus towards him before continuing. "Have you come across a girl that introduced herself as the Ultimate Businesswoman? She's about this high, has straight black hair that goes partway down her back, blue eyes, and is super nice, even if her talent is super bland."

"I've seen no one who meets that description." The girl's response was curt and to-the-point, barely needing anytime to formulate her response.

"Ah, that's a shame…" Believing that the discussion was over, the girl looked to go elsewhere before Hayate stepped in her way. "Hold on!"

"Yes?" The teenager remained stoic, almost poker-faced as she waited for the dark-haired boy to go on.

"It would mean a lot to me if you kept an eye out for her." The prankster did well to not be intimated by the girl's stare as he pleaded with her. "I'm Hayate, by the way. Hayate Kamukura. How about you? You're an Ultimate as well, aren't you?"

"If you're so eager to know, then I guess that I'll oblige." The girl adjusted her glasses slightly before looking back at Hayate. "Rosamie de Vera. Ultimate Midwife."

* * *

 **Rosamie de Vera**

 **The Ultimate Midwife**

* * *

"That surname, Kamukura," the woman continued. "Are you a descendant of the founder of Hope Peak's Academy by any chance?"

"Sure am!" Much like when Touma asked him that same question earlier, Hayate puffed his chest out pridefully. "What's more, I'm the Ultimate Prankster!"

"Is that so…" Rosamie's voice became icy, sounding to Hiroko like she'd quickly lost interest in the boy due to his talent.

"Don't worry, I don't bite." Either Hayate totally misinterpreted the girl's shift in tone or he did a good job of pretending to do so. "So… what do think about this whole mess we've found ourselves in?"

"What's there to think about exactly?"

"Huh?" Hayate was confused by Rosamie's question, leading to Rosamie to rest her delicate hand on her chin.

"Sure, we can ponder over the specifics of why we were brought here, how it was done and what the purpose of all of us being assembled here, but what would that change exactly?" It felt as though she was no longer talking to Hayate but talking aloud to herself as she openly spoke her mind. "And if your response is that it would help us devise a strategy going forward, then could that logic be applied to our lives as a whole? Is looking to the past really the only correct way to move forward?"

"I… er…" As the spill went on, Hayate looked more and more dumbfounded to the point where Hiroko could tell that his mind went blank just by looking at him. "Sorry. You've lost me." Rosamie let out the quietest of sighs as she dropped her hands to her side.

"My apologies. It seems that I have overestimated you."

Without any further words, Rosamie promptly left for a quieter area of the gym without showing any regards for the prankster.

"Well that was harsh…" Hayate spoke quietly to himself, displeased with how the discussion unfolded.

"Don't let her get to you," Hiroko finally spoke up after spectating the whole thing. "What she was saying didn't make a whole lot of sense to me either."

"Maybe she thought that I would be some sort of genius since I am the descended of someone as great as the founder of Hope Peak's…" Hayate clicked his tongue as he bowed his head briefly. After a few seconds, he looked back up to Hiroko with a carefree smile, shrugging off the encounter. "Oh well. No use stressing over that sort of stuff. Finding my sister is what's more important right now."

"That's right," Hiroko agreed, happy to see that Rosamie's words didn't have much impact on him. "Best of luck with that."

"Thanks. I'm counting on you to keep an eye out for her as well, kay?" With a cheerful wave Hayate took off in the direction of the other students.

Talking to the prankster, even if the subject of discussion wasn't all that joyous, had left Hiroko feeling a little better. Seeing the green-eyed boy continue searching for his sister while refusing to lose his optimism was aspiring to the timid Ultimate. She hoped with all her might that his sister was okay.

"My, my. Who do we have here?" Hiroko jolted in surprise as a lady's voice spoke seductively in her left ear. Her heart raced from the fright as she snapped her head towards the direction of the sound to find the voice's owner smiling gleefully at her, leaning forwards so the two girl's eyes were level.

The girl's long strands of cyan-coloured hair fell gracefully over her shoulders, reaching as far down as her wide hips. Her crystal blue eyes shone mischievously as she eyed Hiroko to point where it was difficult for the Ultimate Seeker to take her own eyes off her oval-shaped face. Her tanned skin, full lips, pencil-thin eyebrows and long eyelashes added to her attractive appearance. Considering her height that stood at a sliver under six feet and well-developed figure, which boasted an ample bust that was at least D cup in size, Hiroko thought that would have had the perfect appearance for a supermodel if it wasn't for the scar across her left eye.

Her attire was as simple as it was unusual. She wore a black wetsuit with bright purple highlights along its sides that tightly hugged her body, highlighting her hourglass physique. For footwear, she had a pair of blue sneakers while wearing black diving gloves on both of her hands.

"Oh, hi." While the girl didn't look all that intimidating, Hiroko suddenly felt defensive as the girl maintained her warm grin. "Do you want something from me?"

"Maaaaybe." The girl tilted her head slightly as she continued locking eyes with the much shorter girl.

"O-Okay," the brunette stuttered, unsure of how to respond. "What can I-"

"Shhhh…" The girl abruptly pressed her glove-covered finger against Hiroko's lips cutting off the rest of her sentence. "You've got such beautiful eyes."

"T-Thanks…" Her head spinning from how quickly the blood was rushing to her face, Hiroko could only mummer out a single word through the girl's finger. The long-haired girl giggled sweetly at the meek response, accelerating the seeker's heart rate even faster than the rapid pace it was previously beating at.

"Now, I wonder what your Ultimate Talent could be…" Hiroko started to feel her skin tingle as it felt like the stranger was feasting on her whole body with her eyes. While the thought of fleeing passed her mind, the bespectacled girl couldn't bring herself to move even an inch. It was as though she had been caught in a spider's web as her predator continued to check her out. "Your attire certainly doesn't give it away… How about… Ultimate Mathematician. I may not be shy and good with numbers, but I sure know how to appreciate a girl like that, don't you worry."

"Y-Y-You're mistaken!" Hiroko was finally able to take a step back from the intense gaze as she waved her hands in front of her. "My talent is the Ultimate Seeker. It really isn't anything special!"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Miss Seeker," the girl spoke gently as she stood upright, tossing her cyan-coloured hair elegantly behind her shoulders. "Do you have a name for me, hon?"

"H-Hiroko Soma," the green-eyed girl managed to pronounce as the taller girl's face was practically glowing from joy.

"It's truly a pleasure. As for me, I'm Mizuko Suchu, the Ultimate Marine Biologist. I'm sure that the two of us will get along juuuust fine."

* * *

 **Mizuko Suchu**

 **The Ultimate Marine Biologist**

* * *

"Nice to meet you…" Even after putting more distance between her and Mizuko, Hiroko found her devious smile overpowering. It was difficult for the brunette to even meet the marine biologist's gaze without her face burning up.

"Ultimate Seeker, huh?" Mizuko continued to show her interest in Hiroko, not taking her eyes off her for the entire time since they started speaking to one another. "Which do you prefer? Guys or girls?"

"Huh?!" Hiroko blurted out, totally shocked by Mizuko's bluntness. "W-Why do you-"

"Aw, don't be so nervous. I don't bite." Mizuko took a step towards her, her eyes still glittering playfully. Hiroko mindlessly backed off as the taller girl continued her advance until her back hit the wall of the gym. Mizuko leaned forward until their faces almost touched because speaking directly into her ear at a whisper."

"Listen, I consider myself as a bit of an adventurer myself so if you ever want to… explore the pleasures that can only two girls can find out together, I won't be far."

"I'll… keep that in mind." By that point, Hiroko felt like her legs were about to give way at any second. She could only imagine how red she must look at that moment. If stomaching the beautiful girl's embarrassing words wasn't hard enough, the thought of anyone possibly misinterpreting the image of the stranger standing so close to her while she blushed was almost enough to make the Ultimate pass out.

"Hey, Hiroko!" For better or for worse, an excitable voice called out to her as a girl with a dark coat draped over her shoulders ran towards her with a wave as a second girl in a black dress briskly trotted after her while peering at her from behind her sock puppet.

"Oh, Mitsuka! Iwashimizu!" Hiroko took advantage of Mizuko's distracted glance towards the incoming girls to dart away from the wall and greet them. "It's good to see that you both made it."

"I wouldn't allow for such a trivial task to slow me down… Not while the mystery remains unsolved." Upon uttering what was undoubtedly a quote from one of her novels, Haru pushed her trilby away from her emerald eyes to get a better look at Hiroko. "Say… You don't look so great. Are you feeling alright?"

"I-It's nothing to worry about!" Hiroko brushed off the writer's concern a little too quickly, leading to Haru giving her a quizzical look. "A-Anyway! How about this creepy place? Did you learn anything about it?"

"I… may have been too absorbed in looking at the books in the library with Miyako to look for any leads." Haru bowed her head slightly out of guilt as she scratched her cheek. "I'm sorry! When it comes to works of fiction, I can't help but get a little carried away."

"Heh, I noticed," Hiroko chuckled, fully aware of how much of an understatement that was. "But that's okay. Some of my friends and I were checking everywhere we could and couldn't find any answers. There's probably nothing that any of us could have found."

"Also, we all thoroughly enjoyed our discussions with you." Standing slightly behind Haru, Miyako had pulled out Anda, her marionette, and was talking through her while keeping her mouth hidden. "Miyako was even able to calm down once you both started talking about her favourite stories with her." The oddly-dressed girl nodded firmly behind the puppet, showing that she agreed with everything that "Anda" said.

"Well I'm glad that I was able to be of some use." Haru's grin returned before long. She then balled her bandaged hands in a fist and gave Hiroko and Miyako a look of determination. "Don't worry, you two. I'll be able to channel my inner Klein and get to the bottom of this mystery before you know it!"

"Yep! Do your best!" Miyako switched back to Maru, her sock puppet friend, in a blink of an eye as the puppeteer watched on while maintaining her passive expression.

"I didn't know that you had such adorable friends, Hiroko." The Ultimate Seeker felt chills running down her neck again as she was reminded of Mizuko's presence. "Care to introduce them to me?"

"Uh, sure. I don't mind." Hiroko figured that the wetsuit-wearing girl would have to tone down her advances while there were other people watching, so she felt more relieved as she gestured towards each of the new arrivals. "These girls are Haru Mitsuka and Miyako Iwashimizu. They're Ultimates as well."

"Yep! I'm the Ultimate Thriller Novelist." As Hiroko anticipated, Haru stepped forward eagerly with an exaggerated wave. "Perhaps you've heard my works! Have you read any novels from the Crimson Epitaph Chronicles?"

"I'm not what you would call an avid reader," Mizuko stated, now staring at the Novelist with the same eyes as she did with Hiroko earlier. "I am, however, a fan of you, my dear."

"I… don't understand," Haru muttered cluelessly as she tilted her head to the side.

"I can tell that you're a woman of mystery. I can't help find that so… alluring." The marine biologist shot an effortless smile towards the fellow Ultimate as she steadily approached her. "I could only imagine that many of your fans would feel the same way."

"Oh, so when you said you were a fan, you meant…" As Haru finally began to process Mizuko's compliments, her face shifted into an expression of shock as her face steadily became a deep shade of red. "I-I-I don't know what to say! You're so beautiful… and I'm really not all that interesting compared to the characters in my books. Would you… really be satisfied with someone like me?"

"Don't sell yourself short, sweetie. I know that anyone would be lucky to have you all to themselves, myself included." With a playful wink, the motor-mouthed Haru was left completely speechless. The gifted writer was almost trembling as she shyly clutched her arm and bowed her head enough to hide her face.

"Wow! I never thought that I'd ever meet anyone that could silence Haru so effectively," Miyako's sock puppet quipped in a frightful tone.

"And don't think that I've forgotten about you," Mizuko said, turning her attention to the Ultimate Puppeteer. "I can see you hiding behind your cute little puppet." Miyako could only widen her eyes from behind her puppet as the cyan-haired girl gripped sock-covered wrist.

"Ah! Help! I'm being assaulted!" Maru cried out before Mizuko was able to overpower the puppet master and pulled her hand away from her face.

"C-Can I help you?" Miyako broke into a nervous sweat as Mizuko's face closed in on hers.

"You're even prettier than I thought now that I'm able to get a good look at you." Just as she did when chatting to the girls before her, Mizuko's blue eyes begun to sparkle in awe. "You're like a doll! You're so cute that it's making my heart melt!"

"T-Thanks…" Instead of blushing, the biologist's words had the opposite effect that Hiroko was expecting. For whatever reason, the colour had dramatically drained from Miyako's face and appeared to have suddenly gotten ill. "I… I need to go! I'm so sorry!" Miyako managed to pull away from the taller girl's grasp and sprinted out of the gym.

"H-Huh!?" The full-figured Mizuko was the most surprised of the three that were left behind, watching her disappear into the hallway. "W-Where are you going! It wasn't something I said, was it?" A visibly distressed Mizuko chased after the small puppet-wielder, quickly dropping her flirty personality as she called out to her.

"Hey! We can't leave yet! Those guys on the intercom haven't spoken to us yet!" A still heavily-blushing Haru followed not too far behind, leaving Hiroko completely dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events that left her alone in the gym once more.

The excitement died down with the trio's exit, allowing for Hiroko to finally breathe easy. Watching the three unusual girls interact with each other reminded her just how strange some of the Ultimates are. While they all appeared to be good people, Hiroko couldn't help but feel completely out-of-place around them… or just about any other Ultimate for that matter. Perhaps accepting Hope's Peak's invitation and becoming an Ultimate wasn't a good idea…

Hiroko furiously shook her head while keeping her eyes tightly closed, as though shaking off the negative thought that started to surface. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that stuff!

Eager to do something to pass the time while Taira and Haijo were gone, Hiroko looked towards the other students gathered around the centre of the gym and moved to join them, curious about what other Ultimates she was yet to meet.

* * *

 **A/N:** Finally! I know, it's been far too long since I last updated and I know that I said that I was going to finish the prologue with one final part but things have a habit of not working out as you'd expect. Releasing a 15K+ word chapter seemed like it would be a little overkill and it would have kept me from posting something for even longer.

I won't go into why things took this long, mainly because I don't have a particularly good reason aside from "life being life", but I have to give a huge thanks to **TheBloperM** for agreeing to beta-read this part and doing so in a far timelier manner than I ever could have. They also motivated me to wrap this part up before the gap between releasing chapters became too ridiculous.

And now… a few announcements:

First up, the roster has been officially filled meaning the submissions are now **CLOSED** … Not that it should be a problem. I didn't get any more characters since I posted my previous chapter so I'm sure that it won't upset anyone. I'll be editing the second chapter that held information about the submissions and will be gradually changing it to a representation of the student handbook. The idea will be that I'll update each Ultimate's entry as their free-time events are shown so it may be worth checking out as the story progresses.

Second, TheBloperM has done a great job with checking my writing for basic errors and sharing his opinions on certain matters but why just settle for one beta-reader? If you're reading this and want to help me by proof-reading or lending me your thoughts, then reach out to me! Of course, there'd be a limit to how many people I'll be trying to get chapters through to but that's something that we'll worry about if we must.

Finally, big, big thank you to everyone who has supported the story through favouriting and/or following it, and a super big thank you to those who have posted reviews on the story so far. I'll find the time to reply to them going forward, I swear!

So that's all from me. I hope you're finding enjoyment from this little project of mine and I swear that the next part is the final one for the prologue! Hope to talk to you all sooner rather than later!


	7. Prologue: Part 5

**Prologue: From Ambitus Dreams to the Ultimate Nightmare: The Revival of DanganRonpa, Part 5**

As Hiroko reached the centre of the court, she took in the Ultimates scattered around the gym, unsure of who she should speak to first. Even with the presence of a few familiar faces, the Ultimate Seeker felt as if she was walking into a class of strangers on her day of school. That nervous and self-conscious feeling brought her back to those early days when she was a lot more anxious in the presence of other people. It was only when she helped one of the girls in her class find her missing contact lens that she made her first friend, a whole two weeks after the opening ceremony.

It was strange how Hiroko could recall those moments so clearly and yet she can't remember anything from her time at Hope's Peak Academy. She was almost certain that she could see herself standing in front of the school's grand gates, moments away from taking her first steps onto the school grounds as an Ultimate. But whether it really was a hazy memory or just her imagination, she couldn't be sure.

Pushing that concern aside for the time being, the timid brunette instinctively strayed from the bustle caused by the pairs of conversing teens and headed towards the much quieter and more colourfully-dressed Ultimate Graffiti Artist. Ntombi frantically ran her pencil over the page with surgeon-like precision, deeply absorbed with her sketchbook.

Even with the hums of small talk filling the room, she was just as oblivious on what was happening around her as she was when Hiroko met her in the science lab. Ntombi wasn't alone this time, however, as Julia Caesar kneeled on the floor beside the sitting graffiti artist. The Ultimate Centurion appeared to be drawn to the picture that the girl was sketching as the blonde peered over her shoulder.

Figuring that she should at least check on Ntombi after losing her once Yajima appeared, Hiroko moved to greet them.

"Oh, Hiroko!" The bubbly Julia looked up to the Ultimate Seeker upon noticing her shadow. She was smiling cheerfully despite sporting a bandage wrapped around her right wrist and more square bandages on her jaw and cheek. "Good to see that you're doing well."

"I wish I could say the same to you." Concerned, Hiroko kneeled in front of the foreigner to get a closer look at her wounds. "What happened to you?! Did you hurt yourself sword fighting?" Julia chuckled, embarrassed as she rotated her sore wrist. The movement was only slight as the bandage limited its mobility.

"Signor Aaron finally showed me the extent of his talent after you left. He was kind enough to tend to my wounds afterwards, so I can't be mad at him." True to her words, Julia looked to have no ill feelings towards the Ultimate Fencer, though she was evidently ashamed that she was beaten. "I admit that he may have gotten the better of me this time, but I'm just getting started! I'll surpass him as a master of the blade in no time!"

Hiroko was impressed with Julia's determination to best an Ultimate at his own talent, though it was also a little worrying. She only had a few minor injuries for the moment, but what if she gets seriously hurt?

"So what are you and Ntombi up to?" Hiroko noticed that the graffiti artist's eyes never shifted from the paper she was rapidly sketching on, as though everything happening beyond that page didn't exist to her.

"Is that her name?" Julia asked. "She hasn't spoken a word for the entire time that I've been here with her. But, when I requested for her to draw a picture of me, she looked up at me for a moment and has been drawing for me ever since." The girl looked warmly at the silent teenager as Ntombi continued to appear as though she was unaware of her presence. "She's an amazing artist too! Every time she finishes a drawing and I ask her to make some changes, she does it straight away."

At that moment, the sounds of Ntombi's pencil grinding against paper abruptly stopped. Setting aside her tools, the Ultimate Graffiti Artist's eyes met those of the other two girls before turning her sketchbook towards them.

Despite the pace she was working at, the sketch she drew was abundant in eye-catching detail. The subject of the image was a woman sitting atop of a horse standing on its hind legs. The female warrior was holding her ragged blade in the air triumphantly while surrounded by the discarded weapons and armour of fallen soldiers.

Like the fist design that Hiroko saw Ntombi draw earlier, the drawing stirred a range of emotions inside of her. Strength, tenacity, fearlessness, just to name a few. Even among other Ultimates, Ntombi's talent was something to behold.

"Doesn't it look fantastic!" Julia exclaimed. "It's an image fitting of propaganda posters lining the streets of Rome. The moral of the men and women in my father's army would be boosted ten-fold." The Ultimate Centurion continued to swoon over the picture as Hiroko make out the sparkling in Ntombi's eyes. Even with the bandanna over the lower half of her face, the colourfully-dressed student was enjoying the praise her work was getting. "What's more, it's a spitting image of me!"

"Uh…" The one thing that bugged Hiroko about the drawing was that the armoured girl looked nothing like Julia.

Her hair was much darker than the golden strands Julia had, and the facial features were also more masculine and aggressive. While the European girl had lightly-toned muscles that didn't take away from beauty, the girl in the picture had giant muscles that bulged out of her arms and legs.

"The visual representation of power and courage… I can't pick a single fault with this depiction of me!" Despite that obvious differences, Julia seemed convinced that the draw was of her. "Oh! I've got an idea! What if you were to have the national flag of Italy in the background? Like, a big one planted in the ground at a slight angle. Maybe give me some battle scars too."

Ntombi listened to Julia's instructions attentively before wordlessly flipping to a blank page in her book. After taking moment to sharpen her pencils, she resumed drawing as Julia, eager to see the next revision, positioned herself behind the artist to get a good view of the paper from over her shoulder.

Hiroko had been looking for the chance to apologise to Ntombi for leaving her behind in the science lab but couldn't bring herself to interrupt the girls while they were clearly enjoying themselves. She figured that it would be best for her to leave the two be for the time being to see who else was gathered in the gym.

"What!" An outburst from across the room reached Hiroko's ears. "What did you just say…?" Ntombi and Julia were too absorbed in the sketchbook to notice, but the volume of the voice was enough to make people turn towards the male voice.

A blue-eyed boy on crutches was glaring furiously through his rose-tinted glasses at a second student that he was conversing with. His pale complexion, thin physique and shoulder-length pink hair almost made him appear female at a glance. His reliance on crutches was required to make up for his missing left leg, absent from the top of the thigh downwards.

The boy wore a white button-up shirt with the top button left undone along with a black suit decorated with a red and gold floral pattern. The trouser he wore over his remaining leg was of a matching design to his suit. Oddly enough, the boy wore a black sandal to contrast with his more formal attire. His accessories consisted of a gold stud pierced into his left ear and chain necklace with a golden rose pendant.

"I said that dropping some pebbles in a few bowls ain't art," the second boy replied rudely. "What gives ya the right to declare that such a simple and mindless game has even a shred of creditably, let alone have to right to be referred to as art?"

The boy with the hostile attitude had spiked short blonde hair with magenta streaks poking out from the grey slouch beanie that he wore. He was fair-skinned, had a pointed chin and a slim build, standing about five-and-a-half feet tall, roughly three inches shorter than the suit-wearing teen. His thin-lipped expression, sharp magenta eyes and black piercings on the left side of his nose and through his right eyebrow made for an unfriendly appearance.

The beanie that the boy wore was decorated with six badges, all bearing pop art images of art-related tools, spanning from the across the lower front-left quarter. His black shirt was predominately covered by his tight, grey jumper with its sleeves rolled up enough to expose his forearms. The jumper had a design on the chest in the form of a yellow, teary-eyed frowning face that was made up of paint splotches. The pants he wore was a dark magenta pair of worn skinny jeans while a pair of grey boots completed the outfit.

"The simple ruleset adds to the game's beauty, and I assure you that it's far from mindless… Not that I would expect a narrow-minded, bigot like you would understand." Angered, the first boy spat insults at the other teen. "And you claim to be an artist? Ha! If that truly is your take, then you're nothing more than a fraud!"

"…Fraud? Coming from the likes of ya?" The second boy sent a sharp glare in one-legged boy's direction before taking a moment to compose himself as a smug smirk formed on his face. "Don't make me laugh! People actually recognise my talent as a benefit to society. People with talent like yers were only admitted to Hope's Peak to make up the numbers."

"Hey… uh, guys?" Having made her way to the feuding strangers, Hiroko tried to end the fighting between the two only to find herself getting dragged into the middle of it.

"Say, girly," the boy on crutches cut in, pointing squarely at Hiroko. "Are you familiar with the game of mancala?"

"Huh! Umm…" It was a strange question that the green-eyed girl never could have expected though, luckily for her, she was somewhat familiar with what the game was. "It's a board game that uses pebbles, right?"

"…Hardly an adept description, but I'll let it slide this once." The boy crossed his arms, showing his dissatisfaction with the answer. "Given that it serves as the perfect method for measuring a person's intellect and problem-solving skills while being deceptively simple in its appearance, would it be unfitting to refer to it as art?"

"Of course, it ain't. Mancala is a game that ya'd only find people playing in sketchy back alleys," The beanie-wearing boy snapped, ignoring the other boy's snarl as he beat Hiroko to the response. "Have ya ever heard of Shogi? Hell, even garbage like checkers is more respected as a board game."

"I'm sure that you'd know a thing or two about hanging out in back alleys, scum!"

"Do we have a problem here, gentlemen?" The heated glares that were exchanged between both eccentric youths were broken as a fourth person joined the conversation. The Ultimate Fencer, Aaron, strode towards them with a stern expression. Unlike his sparring partner that he fought with earlier that day, he had no visible wounds or any other sign that he had recently been involved in a highly-intensive battle.

"Of course we do!" The suit-wearing teen pointed strongly towards the other boy. "This oaf has been rubbishing the art of mancala!"

"Would ya rather it if I didn't? Because my parents raised me not to tell lies." The second boy smiled mockingly at the first, finding enjoyment in his whining. "If ya can't handle my opinion then that's yer problem."

"Frankly, I don't care for what the reasoning is behind your bickering. It's improper for Ultimates to be carrying on like a pair of toddlers." Aaron's stare suddenly got surprising dark, causing the fighting boys to stop in their tracks, unnerved. "Ms Soma here made an effort to talk to the two of you. The least you could do is introduce yourselves to her."

"You're right. I shouldn't let this ruffian rile me up so easily." With the fiery exchanges being promptly extinguished with Aaron's intervention, the boy on crutches was able to calm down. He faced Hiroko and gave her a slight nod of the head. "It pains me that you had to see me in such a sorry state. My name is Daisuke Daidouji, I'm the Ultimate Mancala Pro. However, you can call me King of Mancala, if you wish."

* * *

 **Daisuke Daidouji**

 **The Ultimate Mancala Pro**

* * *

"I see… Nice to meet you." Hiroko couldn't imagine anyone, or herself for that matter, referring to Daisuke by that title. Regardless, it was clear to her that he was a little too into mancala.

Aaron looked expectantly to the second boy who had proven to be much more stubborn than the mancala pro.

"Must I? Ugh… If it'd really make ya happy…" The boy reluctantly faced Hiroko with a standoffish glare. "Mako Shinjiro."

"Hi…" The Ultimate Seeker responded, uneasily. "Do you… have an Ultimate Talent?"

"Obviously… What? Do ya really want to know?" The boy scoffed, irritated as though Hiroko was prying into something personal. "I'm the Ultimate Artist. Do ya want to hear my life story while we're at it?"

* * *

 **Mako Shinjiro**

 **The Ultimate Artist**

* * *

"No… that's alright." Hiroko was certain that Mako was being sarcastic, but she didn't want to come across as rude, just in case. "I'm sorry to interrupt earlier. I'm Hiroko Soma, the Ultimate Seeker."

"Well, nice to meet ya, or whatever…" Mako dismissed her introduction before turning his back on the other students. "This is a drag. I'm taking off."

The beanie-wearing teen left without a second thought as Daisuke glared after him.

"Could you believe that guy bad-mouthing mancala like that? Unbelievable…"

"Quite…" Aaron didn't share the boy's outrage, just content now that they were no longer fighting. "I suggest that you keep your distance from Mr Shinjiro if he upsets you this much."

"Oh, you don't need to tell me. I'll never give the time of day to anyone who has such an abhorred view of such the perfect game." Daisuke looked around at the various other teenagers in the gym, all of whom stopped staring at him once the commotion calmed down. "I'll be off to ask for other people's opinion on whether they realise that mancala is the ultimate form of art. I'm sure that the others here have much more class than that punk. Until next time."

Daisuke promptly left to "greet" some of the other students. Hiroko exhaled a relieved sigh that she had been holding in since Aaron showed up.

"Thank you, Mr Ep… erm…"

"It's alright. I imagine that it would be tough for you to remember, seeing that the name is foreign to Japan." Aaron gave her an understanding smile, his expression softening dramatically since the other boys had left. "You're free to call me by my first name if it helps."

"O-Okay… Aaron…" Hiroko stuttered. "It's just embarrassing when you're able to use my name so easily. Especially when Japanese isn't your first language."

"I'm sorry that I made you feel uncomfortable."

"No, don't apologise!" The conversation continued to grow in awkwardness by the second, leading Hiroko to become more and more flustered. "It's not your fault that I can't pronounce your name."

"Perhaps if I called you by your first name as well, you may not end up feeling self-conscious about it." Aaron noticed the Ultimate Seeker tense up upon making the suggestion, casting doubt over his idea. "Was that too forward of me?"

"No. Not at all." Guys like Touma and Haijo addressing her on a first-name basis was one thing, but the idea of someone who spoke as formally as Aaron doing that made Hiroko initially feel nervous for whatever reason. After letting his offer sink in, the small brunette convinced herself that the Ultimate Fencer was just being considerate. "I… think using my first name would help."

"Well then, Hiroko." Aaron seemed relieved that he didn't accidentally offend her as he gave her a polite bow. "If you need nothing more from me, then I'll be moving to investigate the rest of the gym."

"Okay. Thanks again for your help." Aaron nodded in acknowledgement of Hiroko's thanks before taking his leave.

With the introductions of Daisuke and Mako, Hiroko had been acquainted with everyone in the room. Haru, Miyako and Mizuko had all returned and were gathered in a group despite Mizuko scaring the timid puppeteer off with her advances. The Ultimate Marine Biologist must have become wary after the incident as she seemed to be acting less intense as she conversed with the other girls.

Daisuke had approached Rosamie since he last spoke to Hiroko, likely pressing her about her thoughts on mancala judging by the midwife's disinterested expression. Meanwhile, Hayate got the attention of Aaron and was likely questioning him about the whereabouts of his sister.

Further away from the centre of the court, Mako was leaning against the wall, observing each of the high schoolers with suspicion. Hiroko frantically avoided his magenta-eyed gaze as he looked towards her direction. Julia and Ntombi were on the opposite side of the gym, continuing to busy themselves with the drawings despite the lingering mystery that brought all these Ultimates together.

Finally, the bow-wielding Yajima was standing alone, not far from the gym's exit. He was watching the doors like a hawk as though he was waiting for someone. Since his bow was slung over his shoulder, Hiroko believed that she was safe to talk to him. That said, she could feel her legs shake as she approached the Ultimate Archer.

"Mr Robin…" Hiroko couldn't handle her nerves as she struggled to project her voice. However, it didn't matter as Yajima heard her despite how quiet she was due to his superhuman hearing.

"Soma, was it?" Yajima's red eyes were almost as intense as the time they first met, making it harder for Hiroko to compose herself. She wasn't the only one felt uncomfortable, surprisingly, as the archer's gaze seemed unable to remain on the girl's face. "I… may have been too quick to intimidate you when we met earlier."

"I-It's okay. I'm alright." The conversation quickly grew increasingly more awkward with Yajima's apology, at least, Hiroko thought that that was his attempt at apologising. It wouldn't surprise her as Yajima didn't look like the sort that knew how to say sorry. "So… did you find the people keeping us here?"

"The stage and backstage areas are all clear. The doors leading to the hallway seems to be the only way in and out of the room, so I'm keeping my eye on it." The Ultimate Archer was pleased to move on and talk business as he pointed towards each point of interest in the gym. "If they really intend to show themselves, I'll catch them the second they set foot in here."

As if on cue, the large doors swung open as a lone person stepped into the gym. Hiroko's eyes lit up as she saw the doors opened but was then disappointed to see the giant Tanzo by himself. Haijo and Taira had left to find Touma about fifteen minutes ago with each passing moment feeding the pessimistic thoughts that lingered in the back of her mind.

"That must be him…" Yajima narrowed his eyes at the muscular new arrival, instantly identifying him as a threat as he readied his bow.

"Hold on!" Hiroko grasped the archer's wrist as he reached for an arrow from his quiver. "He's not the kidnapper. He's an Ultimate too!" Yajima shot her a doubtful look but halted his preparations.

Tanzo noticed the commotion that the two students were causing and headed in their direction. As if Hiroko wasn't nervous enough with Yajima around, she would also have to interact with the former Novoselcian as well.

"O-Oh! Hello, Mr… Buckhand?"

"Burckhard," Tanzo corrected, his mood as sour as ever. "If you're struggling, stick to my given name. It doesn't matter to me."

"Y-Yes, sir…" Downcast, the Ultimate Seeker bowed her head. The way that her greeting unfolded went exactly as Hiroko feared. The Ultimate Military Tactician gave a survey of the room before noticing a concerning absence from the group of students.

"Where's Haijo?" Tanzo firmly asked the brunette.

"He and Taira went to get my friend," Hiroko responded somewhat nervously, not having the slightest idea how six-foot-plus Ultimate would take the news. "He went outside when I last saw him, so we were worried that he didn't hear the announcement earlier."

"I wish that he came and discussed this with me before wandering off." Tanzo sounded displeased, though he was muttering to himself more than he was talking to Hiroko. "Though it seems that he won't have to worry about that dangerous bow-wielding hunter… seeing that that person is standing right here." The green-eyed tactician shot a glance at Yajima, who had been gazing at Tanzo in stunned silence.

"Are you really an Ultimate?" The archer finally spoke up, earning an amused smirk from the much larger Ultimate.

"Do I really look like an ordinary student to you?"

"It's not that," Yajima said, shaking his head. "I'm just struggling to believe that you're of high-school age."

"It can't be that farfetched." Tanzo shrugged off Yajima's astonishment as though his physique wasn't anything extraordinary. "Our bodies are moulded by the experiences that it had endured. I simply put myself through harsher training than most choose to."

"A body like yours put all of my tribe's warriors to shame." Yajima continued to marvel at Tanzo's muscular arms that his sleeves did a poor job of concealing. "If it really could be done, could you perhaps show me how someone could develop a physique that is similar to yours?"

"Are you sure you want to learn from me? Not just anyone can survive my training regimen."

"It's got nothing to do with me." Yajima managed to keep a level voice, but the speed at which he responded suggests that he wasn't being entirely truthful. "I'm interested in passing on that knowledge to my tribe when I return to them. It would be of great benefit to my people if all our men were at least half as strong as you appear to be."

Tanzo stroked his chin as considered the archer's request. He didn't look as though he was too fond of the idea but still gave it a decent amount of thought.

"There would have to be something in it for me if I were to agree to this…"

"I'm sure there's something that my people could offer that could make it worth your while," Yajima said with confidence as Hiroko suddenly found herself on the outer of the conversation. The two intimidating Ultimates began discussing the terms their agreement as if she wasn't present, although the gifted seeker stopped taking notice of what was said as she spotted the gym doors slowly and quietly open once more.

She was left disappointed again as another person she'd never met before entered the room, a small boy wearing an oversized black trench coat. When the boy noticed that the room was full of people, he darted towards the corner where he was as far away as he could be from everyone else. Curious, Hiroko decided to go and greet the boy.

Now sitting with his back against the wall, the boy was strangely preoccupied with something, staring down his sleeves with a peaceful expression. He had deep brown eyes, scruffy shoulder-length hair and weather-worn skin. There were also scars in the form of small scratch marks on the bridge of his nose.

His clothing consisted of a white V neck shirt with holes around the neckline, faded black jeans and a damaged pair of black shoes. The coat that he wore was particularly old, bearing grey patches sewn all over to mend the holes that must have been in those places previously.

"H-Hey there," Hiroko greeted him warily. The boy looked up at her with surprised and distrustful eyes. "What are you doing there?"

"What's it to you?" The boy remained guarded as he pushed himself back onto his feet. He was slightly smaller than Hiroko was, even when discounting the ahoge that granted her a few extra inches.

"Uh, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you. It's just that we haven't met before." The boy wasn't anywhere near as scary to talk to compared to some of the other guys she met today, but the lack of willingness to talk to her still made it difficult to converse with her. "I'm Hiroko Soma, the Ultimate Seeker. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Right…" The boy's gaze rapidly switched focus between Hiroko's face and each of her hands, evidently cautious of the bespectacled girl. With the silence between them extending, Hiroko decided that it would be best if she spoke up again.

"So… you're an Ultimate like everyone else, right?"

"I am," the boy stated in an indifferent tone. His shoulders started to get less tense, but only slightly. "You're… waiting for me to introduce myself, right? Sorry. I'm just worried that my introduction is going to be so bad that you're not going to want to talk to me again."

"I'm not going to judge you based on that." Confused with what his concern was, Hiroko looked to encourage him. "You can just give me your name."

"That's the problem."

"Huh?" The Ultimate Seeker gave the boy a blank look. "What's the problem?"

"I'm not deserving enough to be given a name, so I don't really have one."

"You don't?!" Not for the first time that day, Hiroko was left stunned as the boy simply shrugged.

"Yeah… The folks that took me in didn't give me one, so I just go by Rat."

"Rat?"

"Like the animal… since that's all I was in their eyes." The boy scratched the back of his head, his speech devoid of energy as he spoke. "At least I can take pride in being the Ultimate Rodent Tamer… I suppose."

* * *

 **Rat**

 **The Ultimate Rodent Tamer**

* * *

"Oh, uh… It's nice to meet you." As though it was contagious, Hiroko could feel her own energy getting sapped from Rat's presence. It was hard not to feel bad for him despite having just met him.

"You don't have to force yourself to talk to me. I'm aware that I'm beneath other people, especially a real Ultimate like you… but that's fine." Rat started to wander away from the awkward situation that he created and headed towards the far corner of the gym. Hiroko wanted to ask him about the school that they were now trapped in, but it was clear that Rat wasn't interested in talking to her.

As the brunette was seeing the boy off, she felt a small pressure on top of her left shoe followed by something clinging to the fibres of her sock at her shin on the same side.

"Huh?" The sensation surprised Hiroko, causing her to look down to see what the cause was. She immediately regrated it the moment that she did.

Standing on her shoe with its hind legs while leaning forward on her shin was a rat about the size of her hand with midnight blue fur. It was looking up at her with its black eyes, twitching its nose curiously.

Hiroko almost stumbled backwards in fright but was able to keep her left foot planted out of fear that the rat would bite her if she had disturbed it. She let out a brief squeak from her hand-covered mouth as she forced herself to stifle the scream that was rising from her lungs. Hiroko had never seen a rat up close before, but she wasn't a fan of the small creatures, especially if they were within biting range of her.

"Firo?! What are you doing!" Thankfully, Rat had noticed Hiroko's distress and nimbly scooped the rodent up, cradling it like it was his own child. Seeing the creature in good health, the boy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. You could have gotten stepped on if you weren't careful."

Suddenly, two more rat heads popped out from beneath Rat's trench coat as they looked down inquisitively at the boy's hands. The first had grey fur and was clinging to the inside of the coat, in line with the breast pocket. The other had white fur with red eyes and was looking down from above the collar. It looked as though that the rats were dwelling inside of the old coat up until that point.

"A-Are those… your pets?" Hiroko's heart was still racing as she began to recover from the fright.

"No. They are my friends." Rat gave her a dirty look as though he took offence to the term. He continued to stare at her with suspicion as he appeared to sniff the air. "Weird… You smell like lavender."

"W-Where did that come from?!" Panicked and thoroughly creeped out, the girl instinctively held her arms up over her chest and took a back from the boy.

"You don't have any food on you… so why did Firo run out to greet you?" Rat didn't even respond as he began pondering to himself while watching the rat in his hands, trying to interpret his actions. "Are you acting up because you're bored? I'll play with you some more if that's what you want." With that, Rat left Hiroko for good without giving her even a glance.

The Ultimate Seeker let out an exhausted sigh as she finally had the time to collect herself. Her interactions with so many strange and unusual people and exploring the surreal building left her feeling stressed to the point that she was starting to feel light-headed and a little sickly.

The mystery surrounding her missing memories and the unusual school continued to plague Hiroko's thoughts, even while she was attempting to clear her mind as she rested. Staring blankly at her feet while leaning her back against the wall, the brunette's earlier fear that something terrifying was about to unfold had only grown with each Ultimate she spoke to.

Hiroko ended up passing the time by either trying to make sense of her fear or ignoring it in the hope that it was all in her head. What eventuated was the Ultimate Seeker only growing more tired as she wrestled with her thoughts until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Wah!" Hiroko almost leapt out of her skin as the sudden contact startled her. Looking in the direction of where she was touched, the bespectacled girl felt relief wash over her as she laid eyes on the familiar dark-haired girl, looking like something spooked her as well.

"Jeez, don't move so suddenly like that. You scared me."

"Taira." Hiroko smiled warmly at the Ultimate Exorcist as she felt joy for the first time since finding herself in the unfamiliar school. Seeing her made Hiroko happy enough to decide against pointing out that Taira's fright was her own doing.

"Heh… I guess I'll forgive you this time." Taira responding with a kind smile of her own, though Hiroko could sense some distress behind her gaze. "But more importantly, you shouldn't be daydreaming in a suspicious place like this. If this building happens to be haunted, you'd be easy prey for any evil spirits that could be hanging around."

"Hey… Is there something wrong?" Realising that neither Touma nor Haijo was nearby, Hiroko's eyes widened in alarm. "Wait! Did something happen to-"

"Touma's fine! So is Haijo," Taira interjected, wanting to keep the fellow teenager from thinking the worse. "But… when we found that perv, he had some bad news."

"Bad news?"

"Can we have everyone's attention, please!" Before Hiroko could think, Haijo called out from in front of the stage. Standing alongside him was Touma, who had his head slightly bowed with an expressionless look on his face. He almost looked like a different person from the charming and spirited boy that she'd met earlier that day.

The chatter that was lightly buzzing around the large room abruptly halted as all eyes fell on the two boys. The tension seemed to skyrocket as a hush fell over the group of Ultimates.

"Did you learn something about this place, Haijo?" Tanzo asked as approached the hockey star. Even someone who appeared to be as fearless as the Ultimate Military Tactician was apprehensive, evident from the slight twitch in his eye.

"It's nothing concrete, but… doesn't this all seem familiar to anyone else?" Touma spoke up as Haijo remained tight-lipped as he stood beside him.

"D-Did you finally remember something?!" Hiroko pushed past her nerves to speak up, though the stage actor shook his head in response.

"I'm not talking about an event that we experienced firsthand."

"What exactly are you on about, then?" Julia asked as she fidgeted with a few strands of her golden hair. Out of everyone, she appeared to be the only one to not catch on to the fact the boys came with bad news.

Touma took a steady breath. His eyes remained closed as he attempted to form the words spinning in his mind in the best way he can.

"With our memories tampered with and no means of escape, we're being kept in a desolate location and have no recollection of how we got here. What's more, the people who are here are all Ultimate students of similar age with the number of us being identical to the typical class size at Hope's Peak Academy."

Touma looked over each face in the room with a firm gaze as the temperature in the room felt as though that it suddenly dropped below freezing.

"With that in mind, what do you think will happen next?"

"Ya're saying that this is just like the Killing School Life, is that it?" Mako's words abruptly cut through the tension in the air as he leaned against the wall and kept his distance from the other Ultimates.

Hiroko felt her heart stop as a cold bead of sweat ran down her forehead.

She didn't want to believe it. She wanted to keep overlooking that reality, ignore that heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her that something was very, very wrong.

But Hiroko knew this from the moment she kept running into more and more Ultimates. With those words, the illusion of having a happy ending crumbled around her… forcing her to acknowledge the truth.

"H-How could that be though!" Haru nervously stuttered she struggled to comprehend Touma's theory. "The Tragedy ended years ago. It's probably just a coincidence!"

"But how could you ignore these similarities?" The pragmatic Rosamie brought her slender hand to her chin and attempted to remain composed, though Hiroko could spot her slightly furrowed brow that said otherwise. "The details line up almost perfectly."

"We should make a run for it then!" Hayate quickly suggested in a panic. "It's not too late. The game hasn't-"

"Did you hear what he just said? There's no hope of escaping," Daisuke stated bluntly as the one-legged boy wearing a face of discomfort. "Our captors would have certainly made sure of that if they wanted to leave us here in the first place."

"This place… Is completely surrounded by an electric fence. I've checked it twice now." A dispirited Haijo could hardly raise his head as he announced the additional bad news. "Unless we have some way to get past the fence, there's no way out of here."

"Then… w-will we be forced to…" Miyako meekly uttered as doll-like girl trembled fearfully as tears started streaming down her face. "I-I can't… I don't…"

"No! I refuse to let these fiends have their way with us!" Yajima bark defiantly as he started to look frantically around the gym. "We've been waiting long enough! It's time that you finally show yourselves!"

"Aww, they already caught on." Every Ultimate jolted in surprise as a gruff voice echoed off the wall of the large room. "Dammit! Now I don't get to see their despair-filled faces first-hand when we break the news to them."

"Don't be so upset, dear," a second, more girly voice replied. "I'm sure that you'll get plenty of chances to see those lovely faces of theirs."

"It's not just the faces, dimwit!" The first voice angrily barked. "Our lines are all messed up!"

"Not ALL the lines," the second chimed in. "You can still use your joke about the panther and the acorn."

"But I'm not the mood anymore…" The owner of the voice sounded to be getting increasingly grumpier as the high school students listened quietly, confused. "Argh! The whole ceremony has been ruined!"

"What the heck is going on now!" Mizuko cried out, unsure of where the voices were coming from.

"It's the same voices that made that earlier announcement…" Aaron tried remaining as composed as he could as he took a few steps towards the stage. "Excuse us! I believe that we're all here now, so could inform us on why you brought us here?"

"I think it's time that we greeted everyone, Dearest." The second voice spoke in a slightly hushed voice as their partner groaned.

"Fiiine… Alright! Are you bastards ready!"

Suddenly, two figures burst out from a couple of trap doors on the stage with trails of brightly-coloured confetti. Each object burst out from either side of the lone podium positioned at the stage's centre before landing as the hidden doors closed from beneath them.

The figure to the left of the stage had the appearance of a cute, plush-like bear that stood on its hind legs. It was small, standing at about waist height, and had pristine white fur covering most of the creature's body. The bear had a kind face with rosy cheeks, its dark beady eyes looking over the students through her gold-rimed glasses. The only item of clothing the creature was wearing came in the form of a compact straw hat decorated with a floral ribbon circling the base of the hat.

The figure of the right was similar in that it was a bear of the same shape and size, though the two had drastically different appearances. While the first bear wouldn't look out of place in a kid's toy store, the other looked as though it was a demented alteration of a stuffed bear that would fit in with a horror movie. The bear had a wicked, toothy grin that unsettled Hiroko almost as much as the gaze he held through his irregularly-shaped red eyes. The creature's black fur contrasted with its partner's white fur as it stood on the stage with a red tie hanging around his neck and a brown smoking pipe lodged between its teeth.

As the confetti began to thin out, a large white banner that spanned the length of the stage was unveiled above the bears, reading "WELCOME AND CONGRATS!" with the colour of the letters alternating between red, black and blue.

"Congratulations on your enrolment!" The two bears called out simultaneously with raised arms as the Ultimate watch on in stunned silence.

"Wait… T-Teddy bears?" Rat gazed dumbfounded at the pair as the rats he carried cowered in his coat.

"They look quite gross for stuffed toys…" Julia wrinkled her nose at them in disgust before she came to a realisation. "Wait… those faces."

Just as the Ultimate Centurion noticed, it also struck Hiroko that each bear had a strong visual resemblance to a different half of Monokuma, the unsettling game master that overlooked the infamous killing game all those years ago.

"So… it's really as we feared," Rosamie glared at the two bears through the lens of her glasses. "There's no mistaking it. They're visually identical to Monokuma."

"Hey! That's rude!" The black bear cried gruffly as his red eyes gleamed menacingly in the midwife's direction. "Don't be comparing me to my deadbeat son! I still haven't forgiven him for skipping out on all those child support payments."

"Uh, dear," the white bear spoke up. "You're the one who's been avoiding those payments."

"Wait, was that how it worked?" The first bear gave the other a puzzled look. "Why the hell would anyone want to have a kid if they weren't getting paid for it?!"

"Well… some folks believe that raising a family is the greatest joy in life," the other bear spoke, cheerfully. "Cubs are also a symbol of the love been two bears. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"

"Ah, so that's why I get the urge to barf every time I look at him…"

"Oh, you tease…"

"Hey! Cut the cringey comedy act!" Taira interrupted the bears as the frustration on her face was plain to see. "Trapping us here was you two's doing, yeah? What do you plan on doing to us?!"

"Slow your roll, pipsqueak!" The black bear snapped at the exorcist. "We're doing this at our own pace."

"Ahem! Thank you all for choosing to attend the Opening Ceremony," The white bear began as she addressed the students. "We will begin by introducing the school's faculty, starting with…"

"Papakuma!" The black bear called out.

"…and myself, Mamakuma," the white bear followed. "Together we make up…"

"The Guiding Light Academy Board of Directors!" The two bears spoke as one as they stood over the Ultimates from atop of the stage.

* * *

 **Mamakuma and Papakuma**

 **The Ultimate Board of Directors**

* * *

"Guiding Light Academy…" Hayate repeated in confusion. "What is that place exactly?"

"Why, it's the school we've established for you all, silly," Mamakuma responded playfully. "Here at Guiding Light Academy, graduates are not only set for life, but the world itself will revolve around them…"

"The President of the United States, the Pope, the English Royal Family, Adam Sandler..." Papakuma continued. "None of those guys have shit on the alumni of our great institution! That is… if we had any."

"What are you even talking about?" Mizuko started to become more irritated, though she couldn't mask the fear in her voice. "You're keeping us here against our will. This isn't a school!"

"Sure, it may not be a normal school, but this is still a place of learning." Even with Mamakuma's kind appearance and sweet voice, there was something unsettling about her every time she spoke.

"With that out of the way, I guess it's time for the runt to come out." Papakuma sounded reluctant as he turned his back to the Ultimates and yelled towards the back of the room. "What are you waiting for dirtbag? Get your ass out here!"

"Oh sweetie!" Mamakuma called out along with the other bear. "It's time to make your mama proud!"

"Raaaawr cut it out already!" A third voice cried out from the somewhere in the gym. It was a high-pitched voice full of cheer, though it quickly resonated with every person in the room as Hiroko and many of the other students froze.

"T-That's…" Haijo's jaw dropped as the others around him also begun to realise what was about to come. Silence fell over the crowd before a small figure cannoned out from behind the podium in the centre of the stage. The black-and-white blur soared upwards and hung in the air briefly, allowing Hiroko to get a good look at their third mysterious captor.

It was a bear of similar size and shape to Mamakuma and Papakuma, though unlike the pair, this one wasn't predominately one colour. A horizontal line drawn in the exact centre of the being's body divided its white fur on the right side of his body with the black on the left, with the exception being its white snout with a black nose and the white oval belly that sported a protruding belly button. Its eyes and mouth were different on each side of its face. While the right side of his face had the more pleasant characteristics that Mamakuma had, the left side had the same jagged red eye and half of the wide, toothed grin that Papakuma boar.

As the bear somehow started slowly descending onto the podium, a chorus of angelic voices sang in the background as a spotlight shone over the creature. It also had a halo hovering above its head and kept his arms outstretched, making for an utterly absurd image.

As the disturbing bear got closer to the podium, both the lighting overhead and the choir died down as the stings that suspended the bear in the air became visible. With the illusion destroyed, the mysterious figure jolted to a stop before the strings anticlimactically snapped, sending the bear into a butt-first drop onto the polished wooden surface as the halo slid off the side of its face and onto the floor with a dull clunk sound.

"God, you're both so freakin' embarrassing! This is why I wanted you two to wait in the back while I did the talking!" The new arrival yelled at the bears either side of him, waving his stumpy arms with a shade of red appearing on his cheeks.

"N-No…" A wide-eyed Miyako stumbled backwards as she recognised the familiar creature. "This… This can't be happening!"

"Is this for real?! How could…" Julia broke into a cold sweat as she was at a loss for words.

"You… really are the one behind this…" Tanzo snarled at the bear as his giant hands tightly curled into fists.

"Ooooh those are quite the reactions…" The dual-coloured bear seemed to have quickly set aside the annoyance he had for the Board of Directors as he soaked in the terrified gazes that fell solely on him. "Bahaha! I see that after all these years, people really do remember me! I'm so touched…"

"There's no denying it then…" Aaron took up a sideward stance as he eyed the bear, anticipating that he and the rest of the Ultimates were in immediate danger. "This really is copycat trying to replicate the School Killing Game."

"Hey! Who are you calling a copycat! Wouldn't it be more fitting to refer to me a copybear instead?" The short animal continued to make light of the situation as he looked down at the high school students. "Besides, there's not even a lick of phoniness about me. There can only be one bear qualified enough to act as Headmaster of such a respected academy… and that is lovable, adorable… Monokuma!"

* * *

 **Monokuma**

 **The Ultimate Despair Headmaster**

* * *

"So what's next? Are ya gonna announce the killing game now, or what?" While every other student dreaded for Monokuma to continue, Mako was impatient as he watched on from the back of the crowd.

"Huh?" Rat glared at the unfriendly artist with distrust. "Do you… actually want to go ahead with this?"

"Couse I don't," Mako spat, disgusted by the notion. "We all know where this is going, so why don't we just be done with it."

"I disagree," Haijo chimed in firmly. "We're all going to agree that none of us wants to commit murder, right? Then why listen to what Monokuma has to say?"

"I-I see… If no one decides to kill, then this game may as well not exist." Hayate's eyes lit up as he thought of avoiding the killings brought him some relief. "Heh… good thinking!"

"Y-You're right," Hiroko nodded, willing herself to believe that a peaceful outcome could still arise. "Then we just have to-"

"It's not going to be that simple." Touma's words coldly interrupted Hiroko, cutting down the sense of hope that had started to build within her in the meantime. "Even if we ignore Monokuma now, it won't change the fact that we'll be trapped here. While that remains the case, we can't be ignorant of the rules he'll impose on us."

"But he'll just try and push us into kill each other." Haijo attempted to refute the actor's logic, appearing desperate as he did. "Surely no-one here would be willing to go to those lengths if it meant they could escape."

"Listen… Your naivety is sweet and all, but you can't be serious," Daisuke spoke, his blunt words trampling on the hockey star's hopefulness. "I don't know you or anyone else here. How can I be certain that there's not at least one person in this room that will consider killing as all for their benefit? Even if you happen to be right, Monokuma has manipulated the contestants of his games in the past." The Ultimate Mancala Pro narrowed his eyes, glaring at the bear standing over the teenagers. "If he's genuine, he's bound to do the same strategy here too."

"Hold on a second! Me? Manipulate?" Monokuma gasped in mock offence in response to the boy's accusation. "I knew that humans were the sort to avoid responsibility for their own faults but… geez this is pitiful. If you don't believe me, then fine. There won't be any of that here."

"Won't be any what?" Tanzo pressed while maintaining his death gaze on the bear.

"Tricks, ultimatums, any of these so-called underhanded tactics that I allegedly used to push my precious ex-students into murdering each other… Though I continue to plead that the murders were 100% their fault." Monokuma added dismissively, hand-waving his involvement in their deaths.

"So you're saying that you won't be giving us any motives to kill each other?" Haru asked hopefully. In response, Monokuma's grin widened ever so slightly.

"I didn't say that." The bear let out a mischievous chuckle as the expressions of many of the Ultimate students darkened. "There has to be some sort of carrot at the end of the string for the winner, so I have to give you all something to work towards. Any game worth its salt needs to have a prize, you know… But, how about this. I only give you one motive."

"Just one?" Julia moved to confirm Monokuma's statement.

"Nothing more! In fact, I'll let you all in on what it is right now."

"Now?" Mizuko started to jitter. "I'm… not sure if I'm ready to hear it."

"Too bad! Your classmate wanted to get this all out the way, so I'm saying it!" Monokuma cackled as he threw his arms in the air. "If you were all paying attention, you could have figured it out by now, anyway."

The Ultimates gathered on the gym floor where either deep in thought or were looking to one another. Almost everyone was searching for the motive that was on offer. Even Hiroko tried thinking back to what has happened since the bears appeared, but without success.

Her mind was spinning. She couldn't even recall what was said two minutes ago. The Ultimate Seeker struggled to tell apart down from up as she grew increasingly dizzy.

"You guys…" Haijo's tired words interrupted Hiroko's thoughts. "W-Why bother thinking about this? It doesn't ma-"

"Graduates are not only set for life… but the world itself will revolve around them…" Cutting off the Ultimate Ice Hockey Player's weak protests, Touma emotionlessly quoted a line that Mamakuma mentioned earlier in the ceremony. His blue eyes suddenly widened as his mind seemed to click.

"Uhuhu!" Monokuma chuckled from the top of the podium. "Looks like one of you has it figured out!"

"Touma…?" Hiroko looked to the Ultimate Stage Actor for an explanation. However, he remained tight-lipped as his unwavering gaze remained fixed on the black-and-white bear.

"The motive is what awaits the lucky graduate once the bloodshed has ended," Monokuma explained. "As you all must know, the graduate is the person who successfully kills one of their classmates and escapes detection during the class trial that follows. Upon graduation, not only does the winner earn the right to walk out of the academy…"

Monokuma's gaze over the Ultimates warped into something more menacing, more twisted as the creature revelled in the building anticipation.

"They also get to take the entire world with them."

Hiroko's mind went blank. Her mouth was left agape as she, and every other Ultimate, were left trying in vain to comprehend Monokuma's prize.

"The entire… world?" Taira looked blankly at the bear, though the clenched jaw and beads of sweat forming on her head suggested that she at least grasped the severity of the reveal.

"I-I don't get it," a teary-eyed Miyako uttered softly.

"Wait…" Rosamie paused as she began to grasp the meaning of Monokuma's words. "You don't mean…"

"UUUUUUHUHUHUHU! That's right! An Ultimate Motive fit for the Ultimate Killing Game! The victor will become this world's undisputed ruler!" Monokuma trembled as he could barely contain his excitement. "That person will have the power to do absolutely anything they desire! Do you want to control entire nations? Obtain endless riches? Do whatever you wish to whoever you want without any consequence? That may be impossible for just about anyone unless they're a graduate of Guiding Light Academy!"

Hiroko, like many of the other Ultimates around her, was overwhelmed by Monokuma's claim. While acts of terrorism in the name of despair occasionally occurred, the world that the brunette remembered before arriving at Hope's Peak was largely peaceful. Could Monokuma really have plunged the world into chaos a second time since then?

"That power is waiting on the other side of the most heart-racing, adrenaline-pumping killing game to come into existence. If you want that power, you'll have to-"

Hiroko barely caught sight on a steel arrow zipping through the air towards the bear before the pointed tip pierced Monokuma's red eye mid-speech. The force of the projectile launched the self-proclaimed principal airborne towards the back of the stage before he crashed lifelessly against the far wall. To Mamakuma and Papakuma's horror, the bear was nailed to the wall by the arrow driven into his skull before the podium he was previously standing on toppled over with a thud.

"No! My sweet baby!" Mamakuma wailed as she rushed to Monokuma's limp body.

"Ahhhh! The bear-manity!" Papakuma yelled as he ran to join his shocked partner.

"Good riddance to you…" Yajima, the Ultimate Archer, angrily muttered under his breath as he lowered his recently-used bow. The other Ultimates looked at him with stunned looks on their faces with everyone in utter disbelief of what they had just witnessed.

"Was that… really a smart thing to do?" Haru looked to Yajima, fearful of the retaliation that could await the tribal student.

"Seriously! Have you got a death wish?" Daisuke asked, astonished by the archer's recklessness.

"The bear's dead, isn't it?" Yajima ignorantly shrugged off any potential backlash he may receive for his act of violence. "The 'entire world'? There's no way that it could deliver on its promise anyway."

"That thing's just a robot though," Aaron anxiously pointed out to the red-eyed boy. "Won't Monokuma just-"

"Why! Why did you die on me!" Papakuma had fallen to his knees as he looked up to his son's suspended corpse. "You still owe me 18 years of child payments, you bastard!"

"Dear… I'm sorry." Mamakuma tearfully placed a comforting hand on her partner's shoulder.

"How could this world be so cruel… If only the prize of this game could revive corpses!"

"I know… It's not fair." Mamakuma's hand started to massage the other bear's shoulder tenderly. "Buuuuut, if we've lost our baby, then we can get started on making another one…"

"Whaaaat?" Papakuma whined, his mood rapidly changing from sadness to annoyance. "Can't you get someone else to help you with that?"

"Come on, I know that you enjoy it as much as I do!"

"But it's too much work. Can we at least do it later?" Papakuma continued to sulk as he resisted Mamakuma's advances.

"I can bring out the special oils and give you one of my special backrubs once we're finished…" Mamakuma spoke softly and suggestively, causing the black bear's ears to fidget. His stubbornness appeared to rapidly evaporate as Papakuma leap to his feet.

"Do the backrub first, throw in some fried chicken, then you've got a deal!"

"Okaaay! As you wish," Mamakuma giggled happily before the two bears vanished though a couple of trapdoors positioned nearby.

With the bears gone, the Ultimates were left in uncomfortable silence. Hiroko felt like she could finally breathe with the absence of the so-called school's principal and directors. However, the impact from the words that Monokuma left behind had her shaken.

"Are… are those two fucking right now?" Taira's concern seemed to be elsewhere as she had a grossed out look on her face.

"Are ya an idiot? They're robots! Course they ain't," Mako snarled, not appreciating the vulgar mental image that the exorcist's question painted. "They're… probably making another copy in the back or something."

"But aren't they bears too?" Rat asked, visibly confused. "Maybe they are some special type of robot that does all that mating stuff."

"I… somehow doubt that," Hayate awkwardly muttered.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, the two bears leapt back onto the stage through the same trapdoors that they used earlier. When Mamakuma and Papakuma landed while facing the Ultimates on the lower floor, the former could be seen cradling something wrapped within a crimson red blanket.

"Thank you all for your patience… Though I imagine that you didn't have to wait long if it just until he was finished." Mamakuma last few words were noticeably more cutting as she looked towards her partner with a passive-aggressive stare.

"Fuck you! Don't act all disappointed when you knew what you were signing up for!" Papakuma yelled at Mamakuma out of anger and embarrassment in equal amounts.

"Just made a copy in the back, huh?" Taira glanced in Mako's direction with the Ultimate Artist scoffing in response.

"My lack of satisfaction aside, we've come back with good news!" Mamakuma chirped happily as she held the blanket bunch above her head. "It's a boy!"

Within a fraction of a second of the announcement, the object hidden within the blanket burst into the air. A trail of smoke obscured the figure briefly before dissipating, revealing a reborn Monokuma with a red pacifier in his mouth. He landed on top of the toppled-over podium, enraged as his red eye glowed with malice.

"Okay, which one of you bastards did that?!" The revived bear pulled the dummy out of his mouth and pointed it towards the students as he yelled furiously.

"I-I-It's immortal!" Monokuma's return was a shock to Yajima alone as his face went pale. The archer was unable to comprehend how the bear was unharmed after an arrow to the eye.

"Well, duh! It's a robot… that can have sex, apparently." Mizuko tucked stray strands of her cyan hair behind her ears as she paused, unsure herself how such a thing could exist.

"Please stop," Rosamie spoke bluntly, tired of the group bringing up the uncomfortable subject.

"Hmph! Well, I guess it doesn't really matter." Monokuma tossed the dummy over his shoulder, losing interest in a blink of an eye. "I can't fairly punish anyone for that if they weren't aware of school regulations. So, here! Say hello to your MonoMinis!"

A wave of small electronic devices flew from the back of the stage, zeroing in on each Ultimate. Hiroko barely reacted in time and was fortunate to grab hold of the handheld object after juggling the projectile for a few seconds.

Observing the object up close, the device shared many similarities with a high-end smartphone. The touchscreen was an inky black colour while the frame was a shade of midnight blue. Save for the bottom where a half-white-half-black button resided, the screen took up almost the entire face of the MonoMini.

"Just so we're clear, one of the rules states that any violence against the school headmaster or board of directors is grounds for immediate punishment!"

"And by punishment, you mean…" Haru paused, realising that there was no point in seeking clarification.

"If you're all so familiar with the last game, I'm sure that you can figure it out…" Monokuma's gaze intensified momentarily before he reverted to his more chipper mood. "You can read the school regulations in your own time, so there'll be no excuses from here on out!"

"Let me get this straight. You claim that you have the power to rule over the world, yet you're willing to give it away for the sake of starting the game," Tanzo boomed as he maintained his suffocating gaze on the headmaster. "Why bother with the game if you had that much power? It seems far more likely that you're bluffing."

"You know, I'm glad you brought that up." Monokuma's eye gleamed with excitement, the bear visually unaffected by the hostile glares pointed his way. "Why would I offer such extraordinary power as a bonus prize? Simply put, it's because I don't intend on giving it to any of you morons!"

"You're speaking nonsense once again…" Daisuke spat. "Why stage this game at all if you don't want any of us to win?"

"It's because the winner won't be any of you lot." The Ultimate Mancala Pro narrowed his gaze in response to the mysterious bear.

"There's… someone else?"

"Yeah, there is."

As though timing their entrance at the perfect moment, another person pushed their way through the gym doors. A slim girl of above-average height confidently strode towards the group.

"Destined losers, meet the student that will be contesting for the grand prize on my behalf. The Ultimate Enigma!"

* * *

 **[Unknown]**

 **The Ultimate Enigma**

* * *

The mystery girl halted about ten metres from the nearest person as she fearlessly eyed every student, analysing each of them intensely through her slender, black-rimmed glasses. The teenager's mousey blonde hair was long enough to touch her upper back as her observing eyes, its colour grey with a tint of blue, beamed from beneath her side fringe. The female's skin had a pale complexion as her heart-shaped face suggested that she was a foreigner, most likely from a western nation.

Her outfit didn't appear to have much effort put into it with her athletic physique dressed in a thick black jacket, a simple forest-green-coloured shirt and dark blue ripped skinny jeans as a pair of white trainers covered her feet.

"On… Monokuma's behalf?" Hiroko muttered in a barely audible tone as she was left in further disbelief. "So you're-"

"…Working for Monokuma? That should be obvious from the introduction, no?" The girl gave a sweeping look over the other Ultimates, her disinterest with each student shown plainly on her face. "Look, I don't care for him or any of his plans for that matter. We simply have an arrangement. I win this game for him and I'm guaranteed to lead a comfortable life while he does what he wants with this place."

"Do you… really want to help him bring back the Tragedy again?!" A wide-eyed Haijo spoke in alarm as the mystery girl shrugged indifferently.

"What he does with that power isn't my concern."

"How the hell is it not your concern?!" Shocked and frustrated, Taira latched out as he took a step towards the snide girl. "Do you even realise what would happen if you let Monokuma do as he pleases?!"

"If you want to stop him so bad… Then all you'll have to do is beat me. Of course, that would mean killing me and your classmates." Her expression finally became more lively as she eyed the young exorcist with a smirk. "Is a goody-two-shoes like you even prepared to go to those lengths?"

The question silenced Taira as she and the rest of the onlooking Ultimates were horrified by the glee the girl expressed.

"I can sense a demonic presence within you…" Taira shuddered, sporting a look of bewilderment and fear as she examined the blonde-haired girl. "You're actually serious about this."

"Siding with this monster… is unforgivable." Yajima grit his teeth as his hand started moving towards the bow hanging over his shoulder.

"Don't do anything rash!" Aware of the archer's intentions, Aaron grasped his forearm before he could reach his weapon. "What kind of message would it send to everyone if we're quick to resort to violence."

"I don't like where all this is going," Mako spoke out to Monokuma, frowning as even he lost his cool by that point. "Ya're the one that's running this show, yet ya have a conflict of interest with this enigma chick taking part. How can we be sure that this game ain't rigged?"

"That's when we come in!" Mamakuma chirped as she strode towards the centre of the stage with Papakuma doing the same from the opposite side. "As the board of directors, it is our job to make sure that there is no bias or foul play done by my sweet baby and that all academy guidelines are upheld."

"Yeah! And it's also up to us to make sure that things don't get boring as shit!" Papakuma exclaimed alongside his kinder-looking partner. "We don't trust our disappointment of a son to do anything but run the class trials, so there's no way he could abuse any powers without us knowing about it!"

"There's no way we're trusting you two run this fairly!" Julia raised her voice in defiance. "You're clearly on Monokuma's side!"

"I don't give a damn if that's what you think!" Papakuma snapped aggressively at the blonde European. "We're running the show whether you like it or not so quit complaining!"

"Besides, there wouldn't be any point in holding this game if we fix the outcome," the light-furred bear pointed out.

"Yeah! Where would the fun in that be?" Papakuma chuckled as the distressed students grew silent. After some pause, Momokuma cleared his throat.

"If there are no more questions, the Opening Ceremony will draw to a close. Remember, whether it be by bludgeoning, burning, stabbing, choking, drowning, poisoning, crushing, cutting or blowing each other up, we look forward to seeing what you're willing to do to claim everything there is to obtain!"

"…Why." A quiet, raspy voice spoke out from within the crowd of talented youths. Following the sound for its source, the eyes of everyone in the room fell on the usually silent Ntombi. The colourfully-clothed girl looked to Monokuma with pained eyes as she struggled to speak. "…Why are you doing this to us?"

"Why?" Monokuma tilted his head. The innocent appearance of the bear pondering the question did little to mask the malice behind his wicked grin. "Because what fun is there to be had by changing the world with such little fanfare? This game, this Killing School Nightmare, will be the perfect curtain-raiser for a Bigger, More Awful, More Tragic Event in Human History than anything that came before it! Yes… The despair and suffering that these Ultimates, symbols of humanity's hope for a bright future, will experience is the perfect first step for what is certain to come!"

The headmaster then unleashed his trademark cackle before vanishing behind the floored podium, undoubtedly through another trapdoor that was just out of sight.

"With that, we will also take our leave," Mamakuma's sweet, but authoritative, voice filled the gym. "Please enjoy yourselves and do be mindful of school rules during your time at Guiding Light Academy."

"And don't forget to put on a good show, you hear?!" Papakuma laughed heartily, not bothering to hide his lack of care for the Ultimates' wellbeing.

"Good luck, and may you find your salvation to be favourable." With Mamakuma's cryptic words, the pair followed Monokuma's lead in disappearing from the students' sight.

Just like that, the Ultimates were left alone in the gym as though nothing had happened and yet the impression that the bears left behind was insurmountable.

A chill sweep over the students as Hiroko, her mind numb from the overloading of dreadful news, struggled to draw in oxygen from the air. It felt so surreal, like the Ultimate Seeker found herself trapped in a bad dream with no way of waking up from it.

As the gifted students of Guiding Light Academy exchanged looks of either cautiousness, frightfulness or even threatening in the case for some, Hiroko could only be sure of one thing…

There will be no happy ending in this nightmarish game of death and despair.

* * *

 **A/N:**

What's this? An update after three and a half months?!

Yeah… It really doesn't sound that flattering when I put it like that, huh?

For starters, I do have my reasons for the lengthy delay, so I'll get into that. I was on track to upload this monster chapter within a couple of months of the last part until I entered the real world, aka, holding a full-time job. Needless to say, that took up a lot of the free time I use to have and managing my free time around that has taken a while to get right.

I will admit that my work isn't the sole culprit to the long downtime. With the chapter being as long as it is and the later portion with Monokuma being one of the least interest parts to write thus far, my motivation took a hit and I needed to take a little more than a month to step away from writing and focus on other things in my life. The good news is that I'm feeling rested and eager to continue now that I've finally knocked off the prologue.

Now, seeing that I've left you all in the dark for so long, I feel like it's only fair for me to inform everyone of what parts of the story I've planned going forward. I also want to assure everyone that long breaks like this aren't likely to happen going forward so this is my way of doing so.

I'm pleased to say that the first trial is set in stone (Spoiler: a murder is going to happen) to the point where I've drafted the order of the non-stop debate, rebuttal showdown, etc, segments with appear. I've made some strides towards doing the same for the second trial though I'll need to settle on one or two detail before it will be complete. As for the fates of each student, I haven't changed my plans relating to that in a long time so that should also be settled for good.

Moving on, this is the part where I give out a bunch of thank yous for those that helped get me to this point. I'll start by thanking **Chipi210** , **danieltruong1917** , **dashunterman** , **Despol12** , **J Carp** , **KISL** , **Miss Mario** , **ObieSenpai** , **PettyPunk** , **Raz The Giant** , **Revolution921** , **SanityRequiem** , **TheBloperM** , **xenofan1** and **Ziggymia123** for the absolutely amazing characters that they lent me for the story. I honestly could not be happier with the cast that I have and it's all thanks to you guys. I would also like to extend my thanks to those who sent in characters that didn't make the cut. There were lots of characters with good potential that I, unfortunately, couldn't squeeze in.

I have some very big thank yous for **TheBloperM** and **Despol12** for volunteering to do the beta reading for this chapter. Both have been incredible with getting back to me quickly after I send them my drafts and has played a big part in getting me back on track after my hiatus.

The last of my big thanks go readers just like you! And double thank yous for those who have also left reviews on the story, each of which has been giving me encouragement and/or interesting thoughts on my chapters. I can't wait to hear more from you all. (IKnowThatIHaven'tRespondedToMostOfTheReviewsButI'llDoBetterHonest!)

Before I add to the crazy word count anymore, I'll take my leave. Look out for the character profile that will be inserted in between the prelude and prologue in due time. Thanks for everything and I'll be updating soon.


	8. Chapter 1: Part 1

**Chapter 1: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Part 1**

The moment that the Guiding Light Academy Board of Directors vanished, an intense numbness swept over Hiroko as the Ultimates around her exchanged uneasy looks through the crippling silence. Doubting, hostile, fearful… uncertain. The students' gaze was each different, reflecting the feelings of insecurity and sheer dread that they all felt in common.

Before long, the world around the Ultimate Seeker slowed to a stop. With everything around her seeming frozen in time, Hiroko's thoughts ran rampantly in circles, looping through the same negative voices like a broken record. With panic consuming her like a thousand spiders crawling over her skin, the teenager's surroundings vanished in thin air, only for complete darkness to take its place.

Feeling a sharp pain in her chest, the small girl crumbled to her hands and knees in stunned silence. A hard, uneven surface greeted her palms, drastically different from the smooth wooden flooring in the gym. Hiroko's glasses were dislodged from the fall, leaving her unable to even make out her trembling hands less than a metre away.

Steadily, a range of eerily familiar emotions and sensations returned from the depths of her consciousness. The roaring of an intense flame, the sounds of car sirens blaring from all sides, the feeling of sticky liquid streaming down her face and the smell of burning gasoline and human flesh.

Memories of her past that she had been desperate to rid herself of took a fierce hold of her as her breathing quickened. Hiroko felt like she was drowning in her nightmare with each inhale feeling like an empty breath, incapable of drawing in any oxygen.

Afraid and completely overwhelmed, Hiroko felt her consciousness begin to slip away.

"Hiroko!" From the darkness, a hand firmly grasped the shoulder of the Ultimate Seeker. While initially startled from the contact, the warmth that radiated through the person's palm and fingers snapped Hiroko out of her nightmare. Even when unable to see well without her glasses, Hiroko was able to make out the gym's wooden flooring as the pain in her chest subsided.

"Settle down. Focus on your breathing, okay?" Haijo's calm voice was enough to soothe Hiroko's nerves as she took back control of herself. Perching herself upright while remaining on her knees, the girl was able to calm down as she noticed the muttering of the surrounding students. Much of the chatter didn't seem to concern her, thankfully, as most Ultimates consoled each other with Monokuma and those other bears gone. The last thing Hiroko wanted was to have a large audience watching her have one of those panic attacks. It was embarrassing enough knowing that Haijo saw her in such a bad state.

"You feeling better now?" The Ultimate Ice Hockey Player kept his hand on Hiroko's shoulder as he held out what she could only guess was the pair of glasses that had fallen off her face.

Wearing a stony expression, Hiroko wordlessly grabbed hold of her glasses with a shaking hand. Placing them over her eyes, she was initially surprised to find that her vision was still blurred and unfocused. With a blink, the tears that were welled up in the girl's eyes rolled down her either side of her face. At that moment, the floodgates swung wide open as Hiroko started sobbing uncontrollably.

"H-Hiroko?!" Haijo could only watch on as his classmate broke down. Whether it was due to the scarring from her past, the stress brought on from the announcement of the killing game or a combination of the two, Hiroko couldn't be sure what made her into such an emotional wreck. Regardless of the cause, the tears continued to flow through her fingers as the attempts to hold them in with her hands bore no success.

"…It's okay. Just let it all out." Haijo remained crouched beside Hiroko, quietly lending her his support through his presence. After about another couple of minutes of weeping, the Ultimate Seeker finally managed to calm down to an extent. She was no longer able to cry, largely due to her becoming so emotionally exhausted that she couldn't continue. Left numb and shaken, Hiroko awkwardly looked up towards the ice hockey star.

"I'm so sorry… that you had to see that…" Catching even a glance of Haijo's worried gaze forced Hiroko to hurriedly avert her eyes. She never liked others looking at her with pity, even as a young child. Due to her almost frail stature and general clumsiness, this happened a lot more than she would want to admit.

"Huh? What are you apologising for?" Haijo spoke sternly despite his kind gaze. "You have every right to be upset. This so-called game… It's awful."

The cap-wearing Ultimate bowed his head just enough to hide his eyes behind the peak of his hat. The tensing of his jaw and the strain that could be heard in his voice was enough for Hiroko to gather that he was hurting almost as much as she was. After taking a few seconds to regain his composure, Haijo's eyes rose to meet the brunette's.

"I'm terrified, you know? The idea any one of us being coerced into becoming a killer, and for someone to lose their life because of that…" Biting his lip, Haijo decided to refrain from continuing. Instead, the hockey star gave a light chuckle as he shook his head. "Well... no use losing my head here. Just know that you're not alone, yeah?"

Hiroko watched the athlete as he stood upright. His expression grew calmer after dispelling his unease with a deep exhale, though the talented seeker could see the storm of emotions Haijo was bottling up through his eyes.

"If you're feeling better, we should speak to the others." Haijo extended his hand towards the smaller girl with a brave face.

"Okay." With her legs feeling as though it was made of jelly, Hiroko took the boy's hand tightly as she relied on the extra support to get back on his feet. As much as she didn't want to face anyone in her state, the green-eyed girl knew that no good would come from remaining curled up in the middle of the gym. That said, she wouldn't have had the energy to pick herself up without Haijo and seeing him as vulnerable as she felt at that moment was surprisingly comforting. "Also… Thanks…"

Haijo simply responded with a gentle smile as the two teenagers were happy to spare their words before turning their attentions to the remaining students.

Gazing in the direction of the other Ultimates revealed that the shock had started to subside. Many of the fellow teenagers were huddled in small groups, either sharing words of comfort or beginning to devise a plan to rebel against their captors. Others choose to remain by themselves, though they were no longer staring down the other occupants in the gym. While most of these students were undergoing some deep reflection, one red-eyed girl was storming through the crowds, searching for someone.

"Where the hell did that Enigma girl run off to?!" frustrated, Taira cursed loudly over the other voices in the room, halting every conversation in the room. "The next time I see her I swear I'll-"

"Don't let yourself get so riled up by her!" Mizuko cut in. "If you frown too much, your pretty face will get wrinkles all over it!" The long-haired beauty kept a straight face, but her eyes had a mischievous sparkle, revealing that her flirtatious comment was very much intentional. Every student in the room, including Taira herself, was at a loss of how to react to the comment.

"Mizuko's right… In a way," Haru added, looking to move discussions in a more constructive direction. "Monokuma wants us to pick fights with each other. If we're all going to escape, we have to work together!"

"As nice as that thought is," Daisuke chimed in, amused by the acclaimed author's optimism, "I somehow doubt that Ms Enigma would be willing to hold hands and begin singing kumbaya with us."

"It wouldn't surprise me if that bear involved that evil girl in this game of his to create a divide in our group," Yajima growled, shooting a fierce towards the gym doors where the Ultimate Enigma previously stood. "We simply must do something about her."

"We may have no choice. But for now, why don't we put that concern aside and get a better understanding of this killing game?" Aaron suggested, appearing to be one of the least perturbed students of those gathered in the gym. "We should start by checking the rules on our MiniMonos."

"Not a bad idea." Like the master swordsman, Touma oozed composure after seemingly shrugging off any anxiety that he was previously feeling. "Alright, everyone. Let's take the time to read them all before doing anything else. As much as we don't want to submit to Monokuma, we need to act within the rules."

One by one, the Ultimates took the handheld devices that they each obtained during the opening ceremony and gazed at the screen. Hiroko watched almost every person in the gym switch their focus to their devices before reluctantly doing the same.

With a press of the device's only button, the screen immediately came to life. Magenta light shone intensely on Hiroko's face, earning a squint from the Ultimate Seeker. A white textbox appeared on the screen a short time later, reading:

 _ **Welcome to Guiding Light Academy,**_

 _ **Hiroko Soma**_

 _ **Ultimate Seeker**_

The text quickly vanished, leaving behind a single button on the screen, labelled 'School Rules'.

With a gulp, Hiroko tapped the button with her thumb as a slideshow listing each of the rules presented itself to her. After reading each one, the brunette swiped her thumb across the screen to bring the next one to view.

 _ **Guiding Light Academy Official School Rules:**_

 _ **1\. Students of the Guiding Light Academy are free to spend the rest of the foreseeable future as a valued member of the school community. Graduation, and escape from the academy, could only be obtained by murdering a fellow student and avoiding blame from the other remaining classmates during the class trial that follows.**_

 _ **2\. Students are free to venture anywhere on the school grounds and its surroundings without limitations. Go out and explore to your heart's content!**_

 _ **3\. The nighttime announcement is broadcast at 10 PM every day. From this time, entry into the school cafeteria and gym is prohibited until the morning announcement at 8 AM. The water will also be shut off during the nighttime period. Be sure to get plenty of rest during this time.**_

 _ **4\. Students are forbidden from conducting acts of violence towards Principal Monokuma or the members of the school's Board of Directors.**_

 _ **5\. Principal Monokuma will not directly harm students or tamper with any evidence in crime scenes.**_

 _ **6\. Do not break your MiniMono. Your MiniMono will be an important tool during your time at the school and was incredibly expensive to manufacture!**_

 _ **7\. Each MiniMono contains information of its owner, including the owner's full name and Ultimate talent. In the interest of privacy, do not allow other classmates to view the device's display screen under any circumstance.**_

 _ **8\. Any violation of the rules will lead to immediate punishment, so be on your best behaviour!**_

 _ **9\. Most importantly, have fun… as failing to do is also a punishable offence in the event that the game starts to grow dull.**_

 _ *** Rules may be added or altered wherever the school's Board of Directors sees fit.**_

The simple motion of moving her thumb from left to right grew increasingly difficult as Hiroko struggled to absorb each rule. The final rule immediately stuck out as the most concerning. It effectively gave Monokuma the means to execute anyone whenever he felt like it since there's no way any sane person will find this whole messed up situation 'fun'.

The short girl felt her entire body grow increasingly tense until she forced herself to stash the device in her shirt pocket. She put so much of her focus on taking deep, calming breaths that Hiroko almost missed Hayate calling out to the boy beside her.

"Hey, Captain America!" The prankster sounded half-jokingly as the anxiety was having a clear impact on him.

"Who? Me?" Haijo initially didn't realise that the call was intended for him, farrowing his brow when he later comprehended the nickname. "Just so you know, I'm of Canadian descent, not American."

"Really? So you'd prefer Captain Canack then?" Hayate chuckled with a toothy grin, attempting to lighten the dark mood that hung around the gym. "Anyway, you guys said that we were fenced in, right? Are you sure about that?"

"Well, it was hard to see through all the fog outside, but I think so," Haijo half-heartedly confirmed. "Why do you ask?"

"Recall the second rule," Rosamie spoke in her unsurprisingly direct manner. "It explicitly states that we aren't forbidden from venturing beyond the school grounds, yet you claim that there's no way past the fence."

"He's not mistaken." Tanzo decisively backed up the Ultimate Ice Hockey Player. "I was with him when we first investigated the building's exterior. There's no doubt that those cursed bears don't intend on letting us leave."

"Huh? Why the hell would that rule be there in the first place then? I don't get it." Julia shook her head, looking as clueless as she sounded.

"If I were to guess… Monokuma created that rule to mock us," Touma spoke thoughtfully. "Saying that we're free to walk out of here, only to prevent us from leaving despite that promise."

"H-How cruel," Miyako voiced weakly as her entire body trembled. Her brown eyes conveyed a deep sense of dread as they became submerged with tears. "Does this mean… that the Ultimate Despair is back as well? Are… are my parents still okay? Or…" The Ultimate Puppeteer eventually gave in to her urge to weep. The slender girl struggled to hold back her cries as she covered her face. Tears ran through her fingers as Haru rushed to her side.

"H-Hey! Don't cry, Miyako." Unsure of how best to comfort the tearful brunette, The Ultimate Thriller Novelist placed a hand on her shoulder. Mizuko was also with them, clasping Miyako's hand in a show of support. "I'm sure that everything on the outside is just fine and that stupid bear isn't going to turn us against each other. It's just as Klein would say: Villains who conduct misdeeds from the shadows use fear as their weapon of choice. Without it, they are doomed to fail in their schemes..." Haru's voice grew deeper as she impersonated the fictional character featured in several of her books.

"Just as that strange girl said, there's absolutely nothing to be afraid of," Julia claimed boldly, reinvigorated after hearing the hopeful exchanges between classmates.

"Strange?!" Haru looked uncharacteristically despondent as she bowed her head, hurt from the blonde's comment.

"I'd expect that my father is already aware of my kidnapping, so it will only be a matter of time before his men arrive to rescue me." The Ultimate Centurion was practically glowing with optimism as she wore a wide grin on her face. Hiroko couldn't help but wonder if she was even aware of how much danger they were all in. Still, she couldn't help but envy the European girl's positivity. "Don't worry, I'll be sure that they get you guys out of here as well."

"Riiiight… I was getting worried for a while there, but it looks like there's nothing to be concerned about after all." Listening in to the conversation silently from afar for the entire time, Mako finally got involved with the most sarcastic response that Hiroko had ever heard. "How are yall so sure that the problem will just go away if we do nothing but sit on our hands? What a bunch of morons."

"What's your problem?!" Of all the students, Taira took the most offence to the artist's insult, marching directly for the purple-haired boy before Haijo stepped in the way. "You may be right but that doesn't mean that you can be a jerk about it!"

"Why are ya getting all sensitive for?" Mako glared at the fired-up exorcist, irritated. "I was just pointing out how pointless it is to be complacent when everyone here could choose to kill us all at any moment." The unsociable boy scoffed before turning his back on his fellow students. "I'm outta here."

"Where do think you're going?" Yajima growled as the artist reached the doors to the hallway.

"Anywhere but here," Mako snapped. With a groan, the unfriendly teen faced the remaining students once more. "Look, yall free to do whatever you want yer time, but I ain't waiting around for the moment someone decides to snap." With his exit, Yajima moved to follow the artist.

"Let him go," Tanzo demanded curtly to the red-eyed youth, halting him after a couple of steps. "If he wants to fend for himself, so be it."

"Is it okay for him to be by himself while Enigma is roaming the school?" Aaron asked, concerned.

"Of course not, but if he's made up his mind then there's nothing that we can do about it. Talking to him would just be a waste of energy."

"Good riddance to him, I say," Daisuke scoffed, waving off after the deserting boy. "It's best that we avoid individuals with such deplorable attitudes. Chances are that he'll be the first person to murder out of everyone here."

"D-Don't say that!" Still feeling on edge, Hiroko felt compelled to respond even though she wasn't looking to start a fight. "I'm… I'm certain that it won't come to that. No one… is going to die." Her bold claim didn't come from any source of confidence. Rather, Hiroko was panicked and scared that not only her life but the lives of people around her could be lost at any moment. If she had to witness any more death in her life, there would be no telling if the meek girl would ever be able to recover.

"Hmph… I appreciate the thought, even if it is appallingly reckless." Either unaware or uncaring, Daisuke harshly rebuked the brunette. "There is no place for that sort of thinking if you want to survive here."

"I'd argue otherwise," Touma spoke with his usual calmness, though something about his delivery was slightly off. "If you'd ask me, doing nothing but suspecting others would be the best way to paint a target on your back." While his smile was carefree, the gaze that he sent the Mancala champion's way was intense.

"Was that intended to be a threat, Mr Torisaki?" The one-legged Ultimate glared back at Touma, sensing the thinly-veiled challenge behind his words.

"Hey now! Don't be getting all paranoid on me. Aren't you going to take my advice to heart?" The actor laughed off Daisuke's accusation as his hollow smile only irritated him further.

"If you have a problem with me, just say it, coward!"

"Guys, cut it out!" Once again acting as the peacekeeper, Haijo stepped forward, frantically looking between both of his classmates. "Can't you two chill out for a moment! The last thing any of us needs for your argument to get out of hand!"

Touma sighed before dropping his gaze from Daisuke, choosing to innocently stare off in the opposite direction. The Ultimate Mancala Pro sent a slight scowl in the direction of the mask-bearing student but also remained silent.

"Huh?" With the heightened emotions settling down once more, Julia made her astonishment heard when she Ntombi pull at her sleeve. After getting the Ultimate Centurion's attention, the quiet girl stood on her toes to whisper directly into her ear.

"You're right." After a few muttered words, the European's eyes widened in realisation. "That weird boy isn't here either." Sure enough, the troubled looks from many of the students around the gym confirmed that the trenchcoat-wearing boy was no longer present.

"Rat's gone?" Being one of the few who had a chance to speak to him, Hiroko was more alarmed than most by the revelation. "Did that girl take him away while we weren't paying attention?!"

"I doubt it. She didn't appear to be strong enough to drag him away by herself." Aaron rubbed his chin, calmly accessing the situation without alarm. "Had she attempted it, she couldn't have done it without causing any sort of commotion. It's more likely that he snuck out the room himself just as the ceremony finished."

"Hmm… that's a fair deduction," Tanzo nodded in agreement. "Still, we should at least track him down before assuming that he's unharmed."

"Right. If he were part of my tribe, I would start searching for him right away." Not one to take any half-measures, Yajima strongly voiced his approval as well. "Maybe we should form a search party."

"I'll go." Hayate's hand shot up without hesitation. "Even if he chose to take off himself, we should check up on the guy. Besides, I need to keep looking for my sister, no matter how unlikely I am to find her."

"Seeing that it was my idea, I shall join you in the hunt." The red-eyed archer moved alongside the prankster, leading to the latter to nervously eye the former.

"You… want to tag along? Listen, I'm grateful for the company and you seem pretty strong but…" Not quite able to find the words, Hayate pointed to the bow hanging over Yajima's shoulder. "Do you… still plan on bringing that along with you?"

"I could use it to protect us. Do you have a problem with it?" The unfriendly-looking teen raised an eyebrow in confusion. While it was unlikely to be his intention, Yajima's strong gaze caused the black-haired classmate to become even more flustered. "Are you afraid that I'll use it to take your life?"

"Hey! What? No…" Feeling cornered, Hayate scrambled for a response that wouldn't upset his armed companion. "That wasn't what I was getting at! It's more because… uh…"

"You'd be more comfortable if you had another person to accompany you, correct?" Sensing that the boy was unable to recover by himself, Rosamie came to the rescue, albeit while sounding incredibly unenthusiastic about it. "I suppose that I'll remedy your concern."

"Haha, well… if you're offering," Hayate chuckled as he scratched his cheek, embarrassed but also relieved for the assistance.

"The less we talk, the sooner we finish." Not interested in any sort of thanks, Rosamie headed straight for the door.

"Yes. Let us move quickly." Yajima trailed behind the midwife with his trusted weapon on hand. Watching the pair single-mindedly march off, the spiky-haired prankster let out an annoyed sigh.

"How did I end up being grouped with the stiffs? Well, I guess I brought this upon myself…" Shaking off the disappointment in his companions, Hayate ran after them before he could lose sight of the pair.

With the crowd's number thinning even further from the original 18 Ultimates, a momentary hush fell over the remaining 12 students. Even though she was far from alone, Hiroko felt a little more unnerved with the number of people that had left since the opening ceremony's conclusion.

"So… Any ideas what we should do now?" Haru ended up speaking first, fazed by the prolonged silence. "I don't think that hanging around here will do us any good."

"I suggest we stop by the student dormitory first," Tanzo recommended, showing off his leadership skills through his quick and decisive decision-making. "Our stay here could be a long one, after all."

"Dormitory?" Julia questioned.

"Oh yeah! That was the building where we woke up, right?" Haijo nodded initially, then stopped upon coming to a realisation. "But we didn't see any beds while we were there."

"True, but there were more than a dozen locked rooms in the building with a laundry room and mess hall, if you recall." Tanzo reminded. "I believe that that's enough to suggest that the building will provide us with a place to rest."

"That sounds promising, at least. I'll kill for a place to-" Taira abruptly stopped speaking mid-sentence as soon as she realised what she was saying. "Whoops! Talk about a poor choice of words, huh? Heh…" The exorcist chuckled nervously, though no one else seemed the slightest bit impressed with the inappropriately-timed remark.

"It sounds like it's been decided," Aaron continued, keeping the discussion from being derailed by the unfortunate choice of words. "Shall we?"

"Yeah, let's get moving already," Miyako exclaimed eagerly, only she was speaking from behind her sock puppet friend. "Miyako is feeling sleepy!"

"M-Maru!" The puppeteer responded to the puppet, seemingly embarrassed by her comment.

"Right! You all heard the sock. Time to get your butts into gear," Mizuko announced energetically, quick to support her classmate's idea.

"Hey! Quit objectifying my friend! It's rude," Switching puppets with surprising speed, Miyako shot back a displeased reply through Chomei, the rabbit. It was strange seeing her maintain the persona of her puppets at such a tense moment, though Hiroko figured that that should be expected from someone who bore the title of "the Ultimate Puppeteer".

In groups of twos and threes, the remaining Ultimates started to stream out of the gym, many of them thankful to finally have a reason to leave. A chipper Mizuko was the first to head out the door, the Marine Biologist putting on a brave face as Haru and Miyako followed close by. Tanzo, Aaron and Daisuke were stern-faced as they left while Ntombi exited behind them, silently clutching her sketchbook under Julia's watchful eye. Touma motioned Taira over towards him, sharing a brief word before the two of them took their leave as well.

All the while, Hiroko remained still, watching the room empty as Haijo remained with her.

"Hey…" The Ultimate Ice Hockey Player spoke gently, observing the short girl for any more signs of trauma. "Will you be alright getting to the dorms by yourself?"

"I think so." Her legs felt as though they were as heavy as concrete, but Hiroko didn't want to give Haijo any more reason to worry over her.

"Don't push yourself too hard, yeah?" The concerned boy could tell that she was still unwell but seemed to respect that Hiroko didn't want to him to fuss over her.

With the Haijo patiently waiting for her to collect herself, Hiroko closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. With the gym mostly empty, the Ultimate Seeker managed to find a moment where she could pretend that that opening ceremony never happened and that her life wasn't in danger. Even if she had to face the harsh reality at some stage, Hiroko welcomed the peace that she was able to find during her pause. But over time, the near-vacant room became increasingly unsettling as opposed to comforting, giving her just enough motivation to follow the other students out of the gym.

Without uttering another word, Hiroko took her first step towards the gym exit, eventually leaving for the school's front entrance with Haijo alongside her, fearful of what the killing game has in store for her and the other Ultimates.

* * *

 **A/N:**

It took much longer than I would have hoped, but I just managed to release the first part of chapter one before the new year. I'm still coming to terms with the loss of free time that I've had in previous years and it shows with the large gap between the day of my last chapter release and today.

I feel that I need to apologise with the extended break, but I assure everyone reading this that hardly a day goes by without me thinking about this story and the characters within it. The time for me to write out the characters free-time events is getting closer and I'm genuinely looking forward to it. It will likely start in part 3 of this chapter so, I'll be looking for some input from the character creators in case they have any ideas related to their submitted characters. I'll be looking to send out some PMs to you guys in the lead up to part 3 to make sure everyone has a chance to share their thoughts, but don't be afraid to get in contact with me first.

Once again, big thank yous to **TheBloperM** and **Despol12** for their continued help and support and to those of you continuing to read and review this story. Seriously, even when writing gets difficult, knowing that there are people willing to listen to my story is more than enough for me to keep working away at it. The next part is already underway, so I hope to get the next part out before 2021 arrives. *knocks on wood*

I hope you are all having an enjoyable holiday season and I'll be checking in again in 2020!


	9. Chapter 1: Part 2

**Chapter 1: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Part 2**

The walk to the dormitory proved to be a quiet one for Hiroko and Haijo. The journey was remarkably uneventful with the pair failing to cross paths with the other students. Given all the excitement that Hiroko had to endure since waking up in this twisted place, she had to admit that she enjoyed the moment of reprieve. It would have even bordered on being a calming trip had Haijo not been glancing towards her even dozen or so steps they took.

By Hiroko's own admission, the Ultimate Seeker had a knack for sensing when something was on a person's mind. Even without those instincts, however, it was blatantly obvious that Haijo was struggling to make his mind up about something… and she was involved in those thoughts. Normally, she would encourage the young hockey star to speak up, though she had a good idea of what he would ask her.

 _What's up with you breaking down back at the gym?_

Well, Hiroko knew that Haijo wouldn't be that insensitive if he was to bring it up. Still, it didn't change the fact that she wanted to avoid the topic as much as possible. She felt bad for ignoring him and she knew that the gifted athlete meant well, but the less she had to confront those horrific memories, the better.

In her worry, Hiroko didn't immediately notice that she stepped foot in the foyer, where a slightly-ajar door was the only thing standing between her and the world beyond the school building. Haijo reached the large door first, holding it open and allowing for more of the cool air to flow into the hall as he waited for the Ultimate Seeker to exit ahead of him.

"After you." Even the boy's small smile betrayed the concern that he felt for her wellbeing. Seeing it instantly sent a pang of guilt through her chest.

"Thanks…" Hiroko spoke almost sadly as they seemingly reached a silent understanding that not even a word would be spoken of her meltdown. She didn't have much time to dwell on the awkwardness between her and Haijo before she set her eyes on the school grounds for the first time.

"Huh. Looks like the fog's starting to lift," Haijo observed from beside his classmate, looking out at the dreary landscape. While visibility had vastly improved from when she first looked beyond the front door, the fog still lingered to prevent the students from seeing too far into the distance. The sky had darkened due to the setting sun and much of the school grounds was covered the dark green blades of grass. Bright paved pathways branched out in several directions with the smooth bricks appearing as though they were placed just days ago. Aside from a few sturdy trees that were planted in various places along the paths, there was very little in vegetation within view.

Hiroko walked down the steps immediately ahead of the doorway when she noticed a strong ray of light shining above her head before vanishing. Looking back at the school revealed that the light's source was atop of the tower standing above the building. The direction of the light was rotating a full 360 degrees, just as lighthouse would.

"So that light that guided me here was… this lighthouse?" Haijo looked up at top of the tower, a long way off the ground considering that the building was five stories tall, discounting the lighthouse. "Hey, Hiroko. Doesn't that light look a little… off to you?"

Her gaze following the moving rays, Hiroko was able to see what her classmate noticed. Rather than a clear white light that illuminated the darkness that was in its path, the light left a trail of different colours in its wake, mixed so chaotically into one ray that it was difficult to identify while the light was constantly moving.

"Yeah... that doesn't look like regular light," Hiroko observed. "Also, Lighthouses are usually positioned on a coastline, but I don't see an ocean anywhere." While her vision was restricted due to the remaining fog, there was no scent of sea salt in the air nor sound of crashing waves. Whatever was waiting at the other side

"Huh… Well, if it's not a lighthouse, then what is it?"

"Can't tell ya! Top secret." While Haijo's question was rhetorical, a certain bear of pure black fur suddenly appeared behind the two students, earning a startled yelp from Hiroko.

"We didn't ask for your input! Get lost!" The hockey player's face quickly turned sour upon turning to the plush-sized animal.

"If I didn't respond to you guys' hard-hitting questions, then who would?" Papakuma asked, sounding irritatingly smug in the process. "So, there was your answer! Even if I explained what it does, it would totally fly over the heads of a couple of numbskulls like yourselves."

"Look, I may not be the smartest guy going around, but don't go mocking Hiroko!" Haijo raised his fist towards the bear. "She's plenty smart!"

"Why do you care? She your girlfriend or something?" The terrifying bear spoke mockingly before suddenly sounding serious. "Because if she is, then I've got two words of advice for you: Dump her immediately! The occasional back rub and salmon casseroles are not worth giving up the single life for, believe me!"

"Can you please just go away." Hiroko knew that she was in a bad mood when she wasn't even getting flustered over Papakuma's teasing. "I'm tired… I just want to rest."

"Geez… I choose to be kind and lend you some of my sage life advice and you dipshits aren't even listening! Fine, but don't go crying to me when you throw your life away for some 'special someone'. Urk!" With the bear's so-called advice unheeded, he found himself awkwardly standing in front of the two students, both glaring at him with annoyance. "Wait… What the hell was even talking to you punks about anyway?"

"…The lighthouse?" Haijo replied, the response triggering something within the bear.

"That ain't just some lighthouse, dumbass! It's a Visual Distorter. Show a little respect by calling it by its proper name!" Papakuma yelled in an outburst. "It's powerful enough to hide this location from anyone outside of the tower's influence since the last thing we need is a bunch of spoil-sports to come in and ruin the game for everyone!"

A few seconds later and the small animal suddenly realised what he just said.

"Aw heck! I was meant to keep quiet about that," a worried Papakuma muttered softly. "The Misses is going to give me more than just an earful for that. That's the last thing I need…"

"So, this thing is here to keep other people from finding us?"

"Shut your hole, kid! I ain't looking to mouth off until the ugly witch finds me!" Haijo made another attempt to provoke the panicked bear into giving more information, though that didn't prove to be as successful. "If that bitch comes by, you never saw me, got it?!"

Papakuma leapt into the fog before vanishing entirely from the student's view, much to Hiroko's relief.

"Man, that thing's annoying. What a nutcase," Haijo brought a couple of fingers to his temple and rubbed it as though he was trying to rid himself of a migraine.

"A Visual Distorter…" Hiroko pondered over the information that they managed to pry out of the robotic bear. "As long as that thing is running, we can't be found by whoever is looking for us. If only there is a way to switch it off…"

But she knew that achieving such a feat would be impossible. They couldn't even access most of the second floor, let alone make it to the tower at the top of the school building. Even if they somehow made it to the top, there may not even be a way for them to simply switch off the light. And there's still the obstacle that are the cameras that are posted in every corner of the build that allowed Monokuma to watch their every move.

"That's a relief…" Haijo let out a long sigh as though he had just finished holding in an enormous breath.

"Relief?" To Hiroko's surprise, Haijo took the revelation much better than she did.

"If Monokuma is putting in this much effort into keeping us hidden, then there are people out there who will be looking for us right? That could mean that the rest of the world isn't going through another Tragedy!"

"You… could be right," Hiroko drastically shook her head, realising that she wasn't thinking straight. "No… that must be it. It has to be!" She shouldn't be worried about what is keeping her from escaping this place, rather she should be focusing on the opportunities that are there for her.

"Right?" Haijo's face brightened after seeing Hiroko getting fired up. "We got to tell Tanzo and the others about this!" The hockey star had some pep in his step as he walked down the steps before him and strode out into the fog. He took off so suddenly that Hiroko had to leap down the last couple of steps and broke into a jog to catch up to him.

Catching a glimpse of his expression, the brunette could see the same nervousness and fear that Haijo bore when he left the gym, but there was also a renewed determination that sparked a fierce look in his eyes.

"No matter what… we can't let anyone die," Haijo uttered under his breath, voicing his desire as though doing so would help him draw in all the courage he could muster. "Not before help arrives."

Hoping to find some sort of support that could help her through those difficult times, Hiroko chose to share Haijo's dream. If everyone looked after each other and kept each other safe, then someone will come to rescue them. Surely, they can all hold out until then.

Following the path that hooked a left, the pair's destination soon came into view. It was a building that stood at only two-stories tall and had a cream-colours and red-brick exterior, matching the same aesthetic as the main school building. Just as Hiroko was about to reach the front entrance, she was able to catch sight of two figures hanging out behind the dormitory.

"Oh, it's Touma. And Taira's with him too," the gifted seeker alerted Haijo as the two Ultimates chatted by some tall, black metal fencing. Hiroko could only assume that the imposing barrier was the electrified fence that was tasked with keeping the students from leaving the school grounds. With fog obscuring her vision somewhat, the bespectacled teen couldn't get a sense of what they were talking about, though the pair's voices were kept so low that it seemed as though that they were wary of anyone who was eager eavesdrop on their conversation.

"If you want to chat with them, I'll be running ahead." Haijo quickened his steps towards the wooden door and turned back to his classmate. "I let the others know about the visual… thing right away."

"Okay, I'll catch up with you soon."

Haijo smiled and nodded to Hiroko before advancing through the doorway and out of view. Just as the Ultimate Seeker turned her attention back to the two other individuals, one of the students was about to walk right past her.

"Hey, Taira."

"Oh, Hiroko!" The dark-hair exorcist jumped in surprise from her classmate's greeting. It was likely that fog limited her ability to notice Hiroko, though the brunette could tell that Taira's mind was wandering. "If you need something can it wait? I've got an itch that needs tending to… Though, if you want to join me, I won't say no."

"Uh, no thanks." Aware of Taira's so-called itch, Hiroko declined her offer. The tattooed girl grinned brightly, appearing to have recovered after her fright.

"Good girl. Smoking's bad for your health, so you shouldn't do it."

"If you know it's bad for you, why do you keep smoking?"

"Because I'm addicted, duh." Hiroko farrowed her brow as the exorcist sheepishly twirled a finger in her inky-black hair. "Anyway, see you around!"

"Okay…" Hiroko gave a half-hearted wave in response to Taira's energetic salute before the latter raced off for the school building.

"Hiroko." Before Hiroko could reflect on her interaction with the unusual girl, another interesting individual in the form of Touma Torisaki approached her. "It's good to see that you're doing well… considering all that's happened in the last hour."

"I'm okay now… though that ceremony was… something." Hiroko's mind went blank at the mention of the opening ceremony, likely due to her subconsciousness protecting her from those awful memories. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing fine. No need to worry over me." Touma was quick to wave off Hiroko's concern for him, not interested in being the subject of their discussion. The mask-bearing boy looked out to the light shining from the top of the main building in his search for a new topic. "It's a good thing that the fog isn't as dense as it was earlier. Until now, no one could tell that the light over the school came from that strange-looking tower."

"Oh, about that," Hiroko spoke eagerly upon being reminded of her findings from Papakuma. "Hajio and I found out that tower was what they called a Visual Distorter. According to that dark bear, Monokuma is using it to hide this place from the outside world."

"So that's what it's doing…" Touma narrowed his eyes at the moving light as he examined the abnormal rays that shone above him. The actor then glanced at the front door of the dormitory building where Haijo entered not long ago, his expression sour. "I take it that Haijo has gone to tell everyone else."

"He has," Hiroko confirmed. "Is that-"

"That's good!" Touma cheerfully exclaimed. "I would have spread the word if Haijo wasn't already onto it." The boy's drastic change in mood was enough to give Hiroko whiplash. Sensing her confusion, Touma leaned closer and lowered his voice into a hush. "That news can help keep our spirits until we come up with a plan."

"A plan to escape?" Hiroko questioned in her own quietened voice.

"Bingo! But let's keep those discussions to a minimum. We can't risk any of those annoying bears catch wind of this." Touma took a step back before continuing to speak at his regular volume. "For now, let's join up with the others. If we're being held here against our will, the least they could do is provide us with some high-quality suites to make up for it," Touma joked, earning a poorly-restrained smile from Hiroko. "What's with that face?"

"You've gotten more jovial all of a sudden," the girl observed. "It's just that… I like seeing you being more upbeat."

"Oh? You're more into that than the deep, brooding types, are you?" Touma smiled wickedly, making Hiroko question whether it would have been better to keep her mouth shut. "While you're in the mood, do enjoy my teasing? You do, don't you?"

"Not at all!" Hiroko exclaimed, uncomfortable with the probing questions. "You really shouldn't be flirting with people you just met. Those things should only be said when you're serious about someone."

"What made you think that I'm not?" Touma replied genuinely without missing a beat, causing Hiroko to freeze up.

"Huh?" The short brunette could feel the blood rush to her face with the power of a tsunami as she felt her heart beating at a million miles-an-hour. It was a cheesy response that would be laughable if it was utter by anyone else, but there was something about the Ultimate Stage Actor that made him spellbinding in her eyes. Was it all to do with his charismatic charm… or was it something else?

Having left the desired impression on his classmate, Touma smiled, though it was softer than the ones he'd previously given her when he would push her buttons.

"We'll talk about it later. Can't leave the others waiting any longer, can we?" The sandy-haired actor finally headed for the door of the nearby building. With her head bowed, Hiroko followed as she struggled to settle her nerves.

The flustered girl stepped into the isolated building as Touma pushed the door open with vigour. Before anything else, Hiroko noticed the air become drastically clearer, suggesting that the fog that hung around the school grounds didn't extend to the dormitory's interior. Recovering from the critical blow that she sustained from the flirtatious stage actor, the sound of the brunette's racing heart that was drowning out her hearing weakened, only to be replaced with the sound of a fierce argument.

"Well, it's certainly livelier in here than I expected," Touma muttered curiously as he paused to decipher the several antagonistic voices overlapping each other. All that could be seen from the front door was the backs of many of the Ultimate students that had arrived at the building ahead of him and the Ultimate Seeker. Ntombi was the only student not getting involved in the dispute, sitting cross-legged on a nearby chair as her attention remained on her drawing despite the amount of noise.

"Oh, Hiroko, Touma!" Noticing the new arrivals, Haru peeled off from the rear of the crowd and rushed to the pair in a huff. "That dumb bear isn't letting us into the bedrooms. Such a pain!"

"That so?" Touma frowned, displeased with knowing that one of their captors were involved. "Which one?"

"I don't know its name. The one that's all white." The young novelist fidgeted, growing anxious as the arguing continued to escalate by the second. Fearing that the situation could go out of hand, Touma and Hiroko joined the crowd along with Haru.

"I already told you, I don't give a damn if you had determined the owners of each room beforehand!" Mizuko was in the thick of the heat of the discussion as she stood over an unfazed Mamakuma. Julia was also eyeing the school director with anger as the other students watched on helplessly. "Any of the rooms will do us just fine!"

"Nope. That just won't do!" The bear stubbornly shook her head with paws on hips. "As I already explained, my dearest son went through all that effort of assigning your sleeping quarters himself. I can't have you all disrespect his judgment by letting mere students disregard his decisions."

"For the love of…" Mizuko was so visually frustrated that veins started to protrude from her temple. "Who cares if we end up in different rooms? Are you so heartless that you're willing to deny these cute girls of their beauty sleep?!"

"Yeah! Haven't you put us through enough already?" Sick of trying the settle the argument with words, Julia stepped forward until she was stomping distance of bear. "If you don't want me to smash you to bits, you better unlock these doors, right now!"

"Oh? Are you already threatening to break the school rules?" Rather than getting intimidated by the threat, Mamakuma giggled in amusement before delivering a chilling warning. "You better think carefully about what you do next… You don't need me to tell you that it could cost you your life."

"Girls, please!" Haijo desperately called out, unable to remain quiet as he and the other onlooking students became terrified about what could happen next. "Let's hold up for a minute and-"

"Now, Mizuko, Julia. While we appreciate you arguing for our sake, why don't we try to calm down and think of a way to resolve this?" A calm, yet commanding voice sounded through the lips of Miyako Iwashimizu, though the words did not seem to be her own. Rather, the Ultimate Puppeteer was speaking from behind one of her companions, Anda the marionette, as she stepped out from the gathered Ultimates.

"Okay. If you say so…" While somewhat reluctant, Mizuko listened to her classmate and quickly backed down.

"You're right… I shouldn't be heated over some dumb bear." Julia backed away from Mamakuma, allowing the tension to defuse to the relief of every person in the room.

"That's what we've been telling both of you all this time," Daisuke grumbled, irritated that a crisis was looming before just barely being averted.

"Don't let them get to you," Aaron consoled the one-legged boy, though he too didn't seem all too pleased about the stressful situation either. "If you felt as strongly about something as they did, I imagine that you would act a little erratically as well."

"Please," Daisuke scoffed. "I've dedicated my life to mancala and you wouldn't catch me dead acting as childishly as that."

"Zip it, you two!" Disapproving of the boys' discussion, Mizuko snapped at the duo as Julia shot them a dirty look. Meanwhile, Miyako approached Mamakuma with her marionette obscuring much of her face from view.

"If we can't claim any of the rooms without determining who is the owner of each one first, could we call for Monokuma to sort this out?"

"I don't see why not, especially if gives me another excuse to see my little treasure!" Mamakuma's eye light up at the suggestion as she dropped her cold façade on a dime. "Oh, Dumpling! Mummy needs you!"

Shortly after being summoned, an embarrassed Monokuma dropped through a trap door in the ceiling and stumbled as he landed on the floor. It was evident that with his mother present, the self-proclaimed principal of Guiding Light Academy wasn't able to act like his fearsome self.

"Gah! Ma! Stop calling me that!" The flustered bear yelled without maintaining an ounce of composure. "Don't you know that I have a reputation to maintain here?!"

"What's wrong with calling you Dumping?" Mamakuma asked innocently as she tilted her head in confusion. "Mummy's always called you that."

"And quit referring to yourself as 'mummy'! It seriously makes my skin crawl."

"Aw, you're so much like your father." Mamakuma chuckled before pinching the dark cheek of her precious boy and pulling his closer. "Come here, Pumpkin!"

"Ah!" Monokuma flailed his arms from the pain inflicted by the pincer-like grip. "I thought that you promised not to do this in front of the students. And quit calling me Pumpkin! As well as 50 other pet names you keep using!"

Mamakuma remained overwhelmingly smitten by her child, blissfully unaware of Monokuma's resistance as he struggled to free himself from his mother's grip. The Ultimates stared at the scene, speechless upon seeing an icon of chaos and despair being utterly humiliated before their eyes.

"E-Excuse us…" Aaron interrupted the interaction between the two bears as Monokuma finally managed to break free of his mother's grasp.

"Grr… What is it that you kids want, anyway?!" The principal snapped with his red eye glowing, eager to escape his mother's clutches as soon as possible. "Can you make it quick so I can get out of here?"

"We want to retire to our rooms for the day but from what we are told, we have to learn what our room numbers are from you," The Ultimate Fencer explained briefly.

"Oh, that? Well, that's something you've got to work out for yourselves now."

"What?!" Mizuko pushed Aaron aside as her anger from earlier resurfaced. "But that bear told us that you picked out the rooms for us."

"That was when I placed the nameplates on the door. I didn't care to memorise the room assignments once I did," Monokuma droned as though he was sporting a vicious headache.

"But there aren't any nameplates on any of the doors here," Haru pointed out as she peered down one of the two hallways that branched out from the dormitory's foyer. As Hiroko did the same, she confirmed that several of the wooden doors that were in view were completely barren of any sort of room identifier.

"Very astute of you, Captain Obvious," Monokuma snapped bitterly as the absence of those nameplates proved to be a sore point for the chaotic creature. "Perhaps you could tell me that the sky is blue while you're at it!"

"Hey! Don't get all smart on us," Haijo yelled back in response to his mean-spirited comments. "Where are these nameplates you're talking about?"

"Urgh! Can't you tell? They've been stolen!"

"Stolen?" Hiroko repeated, her confusion shared by the other students present with each wearing perplexed looks. "By who?"

"I don't know, but it could only have been one of you misfits!"

"One of… us?" It took Hiroko a while to comprehend what Monokuma was saying. He was accusing one of the students of stealing nameplates?

She could sense the eyes of each person darting around the room as the mystery led to a new wave of panic sweeping over the students. Even Ntombi was affected by the renewed tension as her lead pencil abruptly halted. But after an uncomfortable moment, the suspicious gazes of the Ultimates returned to Monokuma.

"How do we know you're not making this up to get us all paranoid?" Julia spoke in an accusing tone.

"Exactly," Daisuke agreed, leering at the bear through his tinted glasses. "Why on Earth would anyone of us steal something so trivial in the first place?"

"Oh, you don't believe me? That's not too surprising, I suppose..." Monokuma sighed, exhausted to the point where he couldn't even muster the energy to defend himself. "Honestly, I'm too annoyed about some bright spark undoing all of my hard work to even care…"

"Bahaha! Did I hear that right?" A hearty cackle filled the room, startling the students as Papakuma appeared from the ceiling in a blink of an eye. "My child failed at completing a task as simple as nailing a few signs on some doors? Colour me shocked!"

"D-Dad!" Monokuma stammered, appearing even more alarmed by the second school director's appearance than anyone. "What are you doing here?"

"I wasn't gonna pass up the chance to mock my kid while he's revealed as a complete failure!" The bear's red eyes glowed with glee as saw his offspring begin to sweat. "Say… you have access to the cameras here, don't you? How come you don't even know who took those signs?"

"T-They probably did it while the fog was thick. How could I have known that someone could have tampered with the building's air purifier?!" Monokuma trembled under his father's heavy gaze, showing another side of the widely-feared robotic bear.

"Bah! That's all you've got to say, huh?" Papakuma grinned wickedly. "I'd have half a mind to punish you for your incompetence."

"Actually, dear," Mamakuma interjected. "I think that you're the one who is in for a spanking."

"Eh? Me?" Papakuma stared at his partner blankly as he innocently pointed to his chest. "What did I do?"

"I happened to overhear your chat in front of the school building. We can't be parading around with loose lips, can we?" The eyes of the white bear gleamed dangerously as a menacing aura filled the room. By just being in the creature's presence, the air seemed to grow heavy around Hiroko as the mass of the pressure focused squarely on Papakuma.

"O-Oh! I just recalled that I have an… an appointment I must go away for. Far… far away." With shifty eyes, the dark-furred bear looked eager to flee from the impending wrath of his fellow director. He remained for a few seconds with Mamakuma staring him down, challenging him to act first. "You'll never catch me alive, suckers!"

With a yell of defiance, Papakuma folded and took off in the blink of an eye before disappearing in one of the far corners of the building.

"Don't think that you'll be getting away from me that easily…" Mamakuma gave a chilling giggle, her face distorting into an unnerving expression of bloodthirsty excitement before launching herself towards the ceiling and vanishing after her prey.

The surreal and sudden exit of the two school directors left the onlooking students with no choice but to remain unmoving in dumbfounded silence. Even Monokuma was slow to react as he bowed his head while wearing a gloomy expression.

"What did I ever do to deserve being forced to move back in with my parents?" The bear moped softly to himself. "Why can't this world be the way that it used to be…?"

"After meeting your parents, I can see how you became so messed up and unlikeable," Touma quipped jokingly, though his ill-intent was made crystal clear by his pointed glare.

"Like I even care what you bastards think of me!" Monokuma's eye bore an angry red glow in an effort to intimidate. Over time, however, the robotic animal's eyes lost their intensity as he reverted to his sullen mood. "I'm done with dealing with you punks for today, so here."

Monokuma lethargically waved his hand in the air before a series of audible clicks rang out from the hallways where the numerous doors lined the walls.

"I unlocked every dormitory room so you can all access them. Happy now?"

"Well that took you long enough," Julia harshly rebuked as the Centurion's patience had run out long ago. "Can we go now?"

"Not so fast, chumps!" Monokuma raised his arms forcefully, much to the ire of several of the students. "Remember that you each have your rooms already assigned to you. Located inside of each room is the room key. The intended owner of the room has their name shown on the key card attached to said key."

"Why are you so particular about this?" Daisuke groaned. "Honestly, it shouldn't matter who ends up sleeping where."

"I'm sorry, is this all too inconvenient for you? Well, it's a good thing that it's not my job to make your stay here… convenient," Monokuma spat with a level of spite and passive-aggressiveness that was rarely seen from the infamous bear. "If you're still resistant to the idea, just know that I can see your every move here. Anyone claiming a room that's not their own will be kicked out immediately, so don't make it any more difficult than it needs to be."

No one chose to argue any further as Monokuma took the chance to hastily retreat.

"Now if you excuse me, I'm going to drink myself to sleep and pray that I forget that today ever happened…"

As the downtrodden bear took his leave, the group of teenagers breathed a collective sigh of relief as they became free of their principal's presence.

"Finally! I'm so glad that that's over with." Haru wiped her forehead with a sleeve of the overcoat that hung over her shoulders.

"No kidding," Haijo nodded in agreement. "Though it's a pain that we're expected to identify the owners for each of our rooms."

"I don't predict that it will take much time or effort on our part." Aaron faced one of the hallways where a couple of the rooms could be seen. "Monokuma did say that our names are shown alongside our room keys, after all."

"He's not trustworthy in the slightest, but surely he would be telling the truth about that much," Daisuke spoke with noticeable reluctance, though his tiredness was enough to cast aside his doubts.

"Can we… go to our rooms now?" Ntombi whispered while hiding her mouth behind her sketchbook.

"Of course," Julia exclaimed with somewhat force enthusiasm. "We should start searching before any of those dumb bears get back."

"Oh, but… should we wait for the others?" Miyako asked meekly, not hiding behind any of her puppets for once. "That big scary guy… told us that he was going to get everyone to meet here."

"That's where Tanzo had gone to? I'm sure that he could look after himself, but still…" Haijo looked back to the dormitory exit, concerned and even a little guilty knowing that the military tactician was alone inside the school.

"Taira said that she was heading back to the school as well. And we still haven't heard from the three that make up the search party," Touma recapped as he pondered the group's next move. "We can't just keep sending people to go fetch them. It will just make it more difficult for everyone to regroup later."

"So, all we can do is wait for them to return?"

As Hiroko expressed her uncertainty over the plan, the doors abruptly burst open as a spiky-haired student entered like a speeding bullet.

"Hayate?!" A startled Hiroko leapt out the way as the prankster ran into the group with a look of terror.

"Hey! Is something-" Mizuko was cut off as the agile boy swiftly appeared behind her in an impressive show of speed. "What?!"

"I-I gotta lay low for a second," Hayate ducked and made himself as small as he can, hiding behind the marine biologist's curvaceous body. "You guys need to calm him down for me, yeah?!"

"Him?" Aaron spoke as the other Ultimates looked to the building's entrance, fearful of who was approaching.

The doors swung open once again and as everyone's heart jumped into their throats, the pale, green-haired boy that stepped in was unfamiliar at a glance.

"Where did that scoundrel go?!" The moment he spoke, it became clear that it was Yajima, though his unexpected change in appearance left many in the room confused. Seeing the large group of students, the archer's anger evaporated as a wave of embarrassment swept through him. "I-I see that you're all here."

"What's up with the face paint and hair dye?" An amused Julia pointed at the red-eyed student's face. "Are you preparing for some sort of costume party?"

"Nothing of the sort." Rosamie appeared from behind the short archer, her mood unpleasant. "Our colleague saw it fit to plant a bucket filled with liquid on top of an ajar door. He had Mr Robin here open the door and allowed for the bucket's contents to spill over him."

"E-Even the old-school pranks need a bit love every once and a while!" Hayate chuckled nervously as he peeked over Mizuko's shoulder.

"Silence!" Yajima commanded as he regained his fury. "Do you really think that I'll let that underhanded attack go unpunished?! Where I was raised, such acts are seen as an intent to duel."

"Don't be h-hasty now… That wasn't what I wanted at all." The black-haired prankster held out his hand as he attempted to settle Yajima's anger. "Listen, the bucket just had dyed water in it. The dye itself is coloured depending on the surface it sticks to, but it's safe on contact and it washes out easily, even in clothes." Hayate glanced at the people in the room with a pained look in his eyes. "I just… thought that it would have been a nice way to get a few laughs out and get you everyone to relax a little."

"While I acknowledge your intent, you must realise that such acts have no place here." Rosamie glared at Hayate, the midwife's gazed not blunted at the slightest after his speech. "Do you know what we first thought when that bucket fell on his head? We'd assumed that it was filled with acid, that it would kill him moments after he was douched with the liquid. Don't you understand how perilous our situation is?"

"I-I…" Hayate was at a loss as he looked shaken by the pair's negative response to his antics. Hiroko couldn't help but feel bad for him as he was completely shattered.

"Don't you think… you're being too harsh on him?" A new voice arose from the entrance as a panting Taira arrived alongside the hulking Tanzo. They must have run after the search party, even though Tanzo didn't even look to have broken a sweat.

"Leave Hayate be," the tactician spoke as he worked on defusing the tension. "There's nothing to gain by scolding him any further. I'm sure that he'd learned his lesson."

"As you wish." Out of respect for the giant, Yajima expelled his irritation with a drawn-out exhale before facing Hayate. "Though I have to say that I let my upbringing cause unnecessary grief for you. I'll be more considerate going forward."

"Don't mention it…" Hayate hardly reacted as he kept staring at the ground.

"It's good to see you're all unharmed… mostly." Haijo glanced at Yajima before swiftly looking to Rosamie after receiving a pointed glare from the tribesman. "Those other two aren't with you?"

"As you'd imagine, our search for them was… interrupted." Rosamie didn't elaborate, but there wasn't a single person present that didn't know what she was referring to.

"I only bumped into the big guy at the end of my smoke break before we spotted these three running out of the school," Taira added. "We thought that we'd best follow them in case it was something serious."

"If I may move on from that topic…" Tanzo surveyed the hall as he made note of who else was absent. "Seeing that there are no bears in sight, I take it that the argument reached some sort of resolution."

"Yep! The doors to the rooms are all unlocked now," Haru happily announced. "We'll just need to check the keys inside to find out which room belongs to who."

"Oooh! We get to see what our rooms will look like?" Taira quickly weaved through the crowd of students as she headed towards the nearest hallway with a spring in her step. "I hope it's not all pink or has some other tacky décor that I'm stuck with!"

The young exorcist disappeared around the corner as the remaining Ultimates watched on.

"It's… alright to see our rooms now… I-I guess." Miyako stammered before her sock puppet, Maru, appeared over her right hand.

"I wonder if it's just like the room you have at home, Miyako!" The sock exclaimed excitedly as the puppeteer continued her ventriloquistic act. "Even down to that poster of Makoto Naegi that you adore."

"M-Maru! That's private!" An alarmed and red-faced Miyako clamped the sock's mouth shut with her free hand before darting off towards the sleeping quarters.

"We'll just have to trust that the two that are missing will find their way here at some point," Tanzo asserted. "Let's locate our rooms for the time being." The students that were left in the lobby nodded in agreement.

And with that, the Ultimates headed down each of the two hallways as the search for the assigned rooms begun. Without any process in place, identifying the owner of each room turned out to be rather hectic. Names were being called out as students walked through the hallways both directions. Hiroko observed the polished and unnaturally pristine floor and deep blue wallpaper lining the tight walkway as she weaved her way through the other students.

Without giving it any meaningful thought, Hiroko turned the spherical doorknob of one of the rooms and stepped inside. Her immediate impression upon setting sights on the room's interior was that it was inviting yet had this feeling of isolation as the Ultimate student examined the room. The walls were cream in colour, contrasting with the deep blue bedsheets and furniture that made the room feel almost surreal. A small window was positioned across from the door and so close to the ceiling that it was impossible for someone of Hiroko's size to get a good view on anything but the sky, though it did let in some much-needed natural light. The place would have almost felt pleasant if it wasn't for the large camera that was watching her from one of the dark corners furthest from the door.

Alongside the queen-sized bed, empty bookshelf, wardrobe and work desk, there was a circular table positioned in the centre of the room with two chairs positioned on opposite sides. Sitting atop of the azure-coloured table was a black box with a blue bow holding the lid in place.

Hiroko pulled at the end of the ribbon before her anxiousness could get the better of her, unravelling the bow with ease before lifting the lid. After taking six nerve-settling breaths, the nervous brunette had mustered enough courage to peer at the box's contents.

Picking up the lone item from within revealed it as a key ring with a simple key that only had engravings on one side and a name tag bearing the name of the room's owner. It was no surprise to Hiroko that it was her name on the tag. For as long as she could remember, she had always been impossibly lucky locating a variety of things in no time at all. Unfortunately, finding what was most important to her never seemed to come quite as easily for Hiroko.

"Oh! You're in here, Hiroko." A voice from the doorway quickly brought the day-dreaming Ultimate back to her new room before finding Hayate walking in from the hallway. "Is this room yours? I can't seem to find mine anywhere."

"Yeah," Hiroko reply simply, still partially dazed from the interruption. Taking a couple of seconds to recover, the green-eyed girl figured that she ought to carry a conversation to avoid coming off as rude. "I don't know what I was expecting but I guess this isn't so bad."

"If it has a bed, it works for me. I'm not the sort to get picky, see?" The Ultimate Prankster wore a carefree smile as gave the room a once-over, though his mood seemed to dampen upon catching sight of the camera fixed to the ceiling. Looking back to Hiroko, the hoodie-wearing boy came to a realisation. "That's right, your title is the Ultimate Seeker. I bet that came in handy were you were tracking down your room."

"This was the first room I chose to search, so…" Hiroko trailed off as she tried to avoid sounding boastful.

"You don't say?!" An impressed Hayate exclaimed. "A talent like yours must be incredibly useful. Honestly, I'm jealous."

"Your talent must come in handy too."

"You mean pulling pranks? I'd like to think so but…" The teenager's upbeat mood drastically dipped as he became downcast. "You saw the mess I caused with what I pulled with Yajima, right? It's just as Rosamie said, there's no value in pulling silly pranks at a time like this…"

"Hayate… I-I'm sure that there's something you can do!" Hiroko's outburst stunned Hayate out of his sorrowful state, though the Ultimate Seeker was just as surprised as the prankster was with how forceful her words were. "Umm… I just think that there must be a way that you can use your talent to help everyone. You just have to find out how."

Hayate blinked as a hush swept across the room. As Hiroko wondered whether her words had any effect on him, the taller boy ran a hand through his spiky hair.

"Hmm... you know, I think you're right." A small smirk started to return to Hayate's face as his eyes lit up dangerously. "I just have to change the way I conduct my pranks. Hey! Why don't I try pulling one on you as thanks? I'll make sure that it doesn't turn out to be a disaster like the last one."

"No, that's alright…"

"Knock knock! Is anyone in?" A cocky, feminine voice sounded through the hallway, causing the air to suddenly become tense as the building fell into complete silence. Hiroko only heard that voice once before but the owner of the said voice was unmistakable.

"It's her…" Hayate's bright express vanished quicker than it first appeared. It was clear that the Ultimate Enigma had just entered the dormitory.

That all-too-familiar feeling of dread sent a chilling sensation through Hiroko's body. Her limbs felt heavy, almost like she was paralysed with fear.

"S-Should we hide here until she goes away?" Hiroko quivered. Hayate looked to his trembling classmate with unease.

"I'm sure that some of the other guys will be looking to confront her so maybe we should go back them up." The Ultimate prankster walked towards the shorter girl before continuing in a gentler tone. "I'll be with you, so there's no need to be scared of her."

"…Okay." While she was hesitant, Hiroko knew that anyone who approached the Ultimate Enigma would be putting themselves at risk. The only thing that they could do to help was to keep watch in case something happened.

Hayate waited for Hiroko to make the first move towards the entrance hall before the pair made their way towards the source of the voice. After emerging from the hallway, they found that some of the other students had already met the new arrival. Mizuko, Touma, Haru, Yajima and Miyako were already standing in the mysterious girl's way to the students' living quarters.

"You've got some nerve coming here, you know," Mizuko glared, already looking prepared to launch into another verbal bout after her heated exchanges earlier with Mamakuma.

"I would have thought that you'd still be hiding in the shadows by this stage," Daisuke uttered as he joined the growing crowd with the help of his crutches. He wasn't alone as more students appeared from the hallways as the seconds went by. "What brings you here so soon?"

"Do I need a reason to be able to see my new classmates now? I just happened to be in the neighbourhood and thought that I'd stop by," Enigma addressed the Mancala professional's question evasively. "Soooo, how are you all finding your new rooms?"

"Servable," a curt Touma responded as he sized up the suspicious classmate. "Though you don't really want to bond over a conversation about our living quarters, do you?"

"Blatantly showing your distrust is rude, you know. Not to mention hurtful. I'm a student here, just as any of you guys are." Enigma's frown was quickly cast aside and replaced with a playful smirk, switching rapidly between emotions as though she was toying with them. "But fine. If you want to be like that, then I'll get down to business."

"You're not planning to pull something, are you?" Yajima snarled, tensed like a coiled snake ready to strike at any moment.

"Of course, I am. Though if it makes you feel better, I'll be transparent about what I want from you all. I like what you did with your hair, by the way." Even the short, yet intimidating archer was enough to stop the blonde girl from making light of her interactions with the antagonistic group.

By then, every student that searched the bedrooms had arrived with an irritated Taira being the last to join.

"Alright then. State your business." Tanzo said pointedly, just as eager as everyone else to be rid of the girl.

"Seeing the way that you all look at each other which so much suspicion… doesn't do a whole lot for my confidence, to put it frankly. Like, it's only natural that at least one of you is up to no good. Those that suspect are familiar with acts that are worthy of suspicion, after all." The Ultimate Enigma's dull grey eyes darted between the faces of each student, calculating while obscuring her actions with a nonchalant smirk. "My simple request for you all is to leave this building for me to survey in solidarity. Meaning that I require everyone to wait outside until I'm done here."

"That seems simple enough, but why though?" Haru asked, puzzled by the anticlimactic request.

"It's obvious you're going to do some nasty while we're not looking. Like planting a bomb to kill us in our sleep!" Chomei, Miyako's rabbit-like hand puppet exclaimed manically as his master cowered behind him with firmly shut eyes.

"My… even the puppets have major trust issues here," Enigma pouted in mock disappointment before suddenly being overcome with a surge of energy. "Okay! How about we make a deal!"

"A deal?" Taira repeated nervously.

"Yeah! It would put everyone's mind at ease and be a great trust exercise," Enigma said with overflowing vigour. "I haven't got anything dangerous on me, and anyone here can confirm that by frisk searching me."

"True, and we did search this place earlier without finding anything dangerous," Aaron pondered as he ran a hand through his long silver hair. "The front door is the only way into the building too. As long as we keep watch the entrance, I suppose it would be alright to leave you alone then."

"But you know that trust works both ways, yeah?" Enigma added. "If I'm getting my body searched, I'll be doing the same to each person before they leave. That way, we can all be certain that nothing fishy is going on."

"I don't know…" Haijo voiced his doubt and uneasy over the arrangement. "I still don't understand why you want this place to yourself so badly."

"It's fine, Haijo. She has no intention of telling us and torturing it out of her is out of the question," Tanzo spoke softly to avoid the Ultimate Enigma from overhearing before addressing her again. "If we find out that you're up to no good, I'll see that you'll suffer heavily for your deeds."

"Yeah yeah, can we get moving then? I'm sure that you'd want to get this done before dark."

"Fine. Well then, I offer to do the search on everyone's behalf," Tanzo proclaimed as his strong gaze remained fixed on Enigma.

"Woah now! Don't think that you'll be laying a hand on me." The blonde held up her hand to fend off the giant teenager's glare. "I won't let any of you boys take advantage of my vulnerability and cope a feel, especially if that person is creepily eager to volunteer themselves at the drop of a hat."

"Wha- That was not my intention!" Tanzo growled, outraged by the Ultimate Enigma's claim.

"Oh, you don't have a problem if it's a girl, right?" Julia piped up with intrigue in her voice. Any hostility that she had in her gaze previously had suddenly vanished the moment that the topic of body searches was brought up. "Then it okay for me to do it, right? I can be extra careful to check every inch for anything… improper."

"Aren't you getting a little too excited?" Hayate cringed as several of the other students bore a similar reaction. "You can't be getting enjoyment out of conducting the search. That'll defeat the purpose!"

"Then I'll do it," Taira spoke in a forced monotone voice as she stepped out from the crowd. "Just know that I won't be getting any pleasure out of this as you couldn't be any further from my type."

"Wow… You could have kept that to yourself, yeah?" It was impossible to tell if there was even an ounce of truth behind Enigma's disappointed expression as she raised her arms parallel to the ground, unprompted.

Taira took it as a sign to begin the search, and thus placed her hands on the girl's left shoulder. From there, the Ultimate Exorcist ran her hands over most of Enigma's body, examining her arms, legs and torso by touch. Hiroko felt uncomfortable as Taira ran her hands over the blonde's chest, which was largely due to the disgusted expression on the black-haired girl face as she was made to search the body thoroughly for everyone's safety.

"She's clean." Taira breathed easy as the body search came to an end. "The only thing she has on her is her MiniMono."

"You sure you don't want to double-check? You seemed like you were rushing towards the end there," Enigma teasingly spoke. "Perhaps you would feel more comfortable if we did this in private."

"Shut the hell up." Taira shot daggers at the girl, the usually cheerful exorcist not able to stomach the flirtatious line.

"Don't look at me like that. It was just a suggestion," Enigma winked as she enjoyed Taira's extremely negative reaction. "Now it's my turn. Let me show you how a frisk search is really done."

What then followed was a wave of students stepping up to get searched before being instructed to wait outside. As the Ultimate Enigma conducted the searches, the common conclusion was that many of the students had nothing but their assigned keys and MiniMono on them, though that wasn't the case for everyone. Miyako's body search took at least twice as long as everyone else's due to the puppets she kept on her person needing to be removed from the hidden pockets inside her dress and Hayate didn't have his keys on him as he was yet to find them.

Aside from the odd comment thrown out by Yajima and a couple of Miyako's puppet's protesting their separation from their close friend, everyone cooperated with the search despite the general feeling of unwillingness between many of the Ultimates.

With the conclusion of Mizuko's search, Hiroko found herself to be the final person to undergo the search.

"Annnnd you're good to go too." Enigma gave the Ultimate Marine Biologist a gentle push towards the building's exit. "Off you go now."

"Hang on! I can't leave Hiroko alone with you!" Mizuko protested as she planted her feet in front of the door. "I have to stay here to make sure that you don't try anything fishy!"

"And here I thought we were making some good progress with this little trust exercise…" Enigma looked saddened before sighing. "Fine. But stay by the door. If you went wandering off, I'd have to search you again."

"While I'd normally be excited about getting patted down by a pretty woman, you're far too crazy for even my liking." Mizuko narrowed her eyes as she folded her arms, showing her intent to not move an inch from her spot. Seeing Julia respond positively to the frisk search, Hiroko was surprised to see Mizuko act so seriously when she considers how flirtatious she has been acting with all the girls.

As the Ultimate Enigma turned to face Hiroko standing alone in the middle of the hall, the bespectacled girl felt her heart sink. The mysterious girl wore an inviting yet terrifying smile as she eyed the timid girl as a predator would do with its prey.

"Come on. You don't want to keep your friends waiting, do you?" Enigma didn't move as she waited calmly for Hiroko to approach her. And with a swallow, the Ultimate Seeker managed to take a heavy step towards the grey-eyed girl. Every subsequent step took just as much effort to make until she was standing inches from the waiting girl.

With the girl forcing Hiroko's arms into the shape of a T, Enigma began the search by feeling down her arm. The brown-haired teenager held her breath impulsively as the hands moved along each of her limbs. Hiroko wasn't certain if it just due to the feeling of sickness bubbling in her gut, but it almost felt as though the Ultimate Enigma was taking more time with inspecting her than any of the other students.

"You're Hiroko Soma, huh?"

"Ah…!" The sudden whisper directly into Hiroko's ear startled her as her heart rate drastically spiked.

"I see… I have to say that you're not what I was expecting." Enigma moved behind her as he continued the search by placing her hands on her back. From there, Hiroko's mind when blank as the search moved to her torso. Enigma continued to talk in a soft voice to keep Mizuko from listening in. "You appear to be remarkably… plain. And not just for an Ultimate Student, either. You don't seem any different from some ordinary schoolgirl."

Hiroko hung off every word uttered into her ear as she forced her eyes shut. She had completely lost awareness of where Enigma's wandering hands were, but the knowledge that she continued to feel for any dangerous items was enough to make her ill.

"So… what is it that makes you so special?"

"W-What…" Hiroko managed to squeak out a meek response. "What are you… talking about?"

"Is this creep bothering you, Hiroko?" Mizuko interrupted, catching wind of the Enigma getting in her ear. "Hey! Haven't you spent enough time on her?"

"It seems that I'll just have to work that out for myself," Enigma kept her voice low as she nudged Hiroko towards the marine biologist. "You're all clear to wait outside until I'm done here. Don't worry, I won't be long. Promise."

"Let's get out of here." Sensing Hiroko's distress, Mizuko took the dazed girl's hand and led her out of the dormitory.

Once the pair stepped outside, the fog had thinned to the point that they could see the sun setting in a shade of deep orange. The sight would have been beautiful if it wasn't for the tall metal fence obscuring the view.

"Hey, Hiroko… You're looking incredibly pale. Did something happen in there?" The next thing that greeted Hiroko was Taira's worried expression as she noticed her teary face. "She didn't…"

"I-It's okay! She didn't do anything," Hiroko quickly shutdown her classmate before she could continue. The last thing she wanted was to have Taira do something drastic and put herself in danger.

"You don't have to fret, Hun," Mizuko reassured the exorcist. "I was with her the whole time and nothing happened. Hiroko here's just getting overwhelmed with all that's happened today."

"Well… okay then." Taira bit the inside of her cheek doubtfully but didn't press further before leaving the two alone.

"Thank you…" Hiroko whispered, thankful for the marine biologist's quick-thinking.

"No thanks required… Though I'm sure that we can work out a way for you to make it up to me…" Mizuko smiled suggestively as she reverted to the flirty Ultimate that she first met in the gym. "But for real, come to me if you need someone to lean on."

Everyone had silently agreed to wait by the door as the Ultimate Enigma remained alone in the dormitory building. During that time, Hiroko chose to watch the sun as it continued to sink further below the horizon. Not thinking about why she was here or what she'd need to do to escape or any of the other dozens of questions that were floating around in her head. Instead, she just did want she could to enjoy sight by choosing to look past the fence and uncomfortable questions.

Hiroko allowed herself to get lost in the view until the sound of a twisting doorknob caught the attention of her and everyone else who was waiting. The Ultimate Enigma emerged with a pleased look on her face much to the annoyance of the other Ultimates.

"Welp, it's all yours."

"So are you going to tell us what it was you were doing in there now that you got what you wanted?" Yajima pressed as he approached her.

"Nah, I think I won't do that," Enigma turned him down casually as though she wasn't taking the archer seriously. "Oh, but rather than getting caught up with what I've been up to every waking moment, you should be more worried about these guys."

Just then, a familiar jingle sounded across the school grounds before a giant screen lowered from the underside of the dormitory porch. The screen promptly came to life to show Mamakuma sitting on a pink sofa with a whip in hand while Papakuma dangled upside down over his own dark blue sofa, wrapped in heavy chains attached to the ceiling off-screen.

"Ahem! The following is an announcement from the Guiding Light Academy Board of Directors!" Mamakuma chirped.

"Yo, Wicked Witch of the West! Do I look like a rabbit to you?" Papakuma yelled as he swayed slightly. "Couldn't ya at least put me right side up before starting the broadcast?!"

"Hush now, sweetie. I'll be right with you in a moment!" Mamakuma hushed her partner before continuing the announcement. "As many of you are aware of, the school have witnessed the theft of the nameplate within the dormitories. While this does not break any of the school rules, we find such acts to be highly disrespectful to this lovely young community that has been willing to take you all in its care."

"How about you loosen these chains a little so I can show the 'respect' I have for you, you old hag!" Papakuma remained vocal as his fellow school director did her best to ignore him.

"…Therefore, the Board of Directors has decided to introduce a new rule to limit the number of future thefts. Effective immediately, any school property from the storage room is prohibited from being brought into a student's living quarters."

Suddenly, Hiroko felt a buzz in her skirt pocket as the same sound came from everyone else that was present for the broadcast. Pulling out her MiniMono revealed a notification message stating that the school rules had been updated. She didn't need to look to know that the announced rule had made its way to the list on her device.

"Could ya wrap this up? I can feel all the blood rushing to my head…" Papakuma started sounding woozy as his face started to turn blue.

"Hmm… I guess you've been through enough," Mamakuma giggled. "Now, my darling, on to stage two!"

"Eek, s-stage two!" Papakuma exclaimed. "That's, like, the fourth-worst stage of them all!"

"Oh, I'll have to end this broadcast before we begin. While I don't have a problem with having an audience, it would be best to spare our students. It would be a shame if we were to corrupt their young minds." Mamakuma eyes glittered as she looked to her prisoner. "That is all, students. Remember that Nighttime is fast approaching. Don't be wandering too far from your assigned rooms now."

The screen switched itself off and retreated into the ceiling as the Ultimates watched on in astonishment. Putting aside the unsettling scene that was broadcasted, the rule wasn't something to panic over, at least not when compared to everything else that happened since she woke up.

"Are you kidding me?!" Taira yelled as she frantically looked around. "That girl vanished again?"

"Just as we were about to question her too," Daisuke muttered, displeased with the development.

"Nevermind her. We must instead to focus on what's important." Tanzo directed, continuing his unofficial leadership role amongst the group.

"Making sure that everyone escapes from here, yeah?" Haijo spoke up. "Hiroko and I learned something that we could use to get out of here."

"Before we continue, may I make a suggestion?" Miyako requested through Anda once again. "It's been a long day and I think Miyako wants to turn in for the night."

"If that's okay with everyone…" Lowering the marionette, Miyako spoke to the group directly.

"Don't sweat it. I know that you've been through a lot," Mizuko agreed without hesitation. "Why don't you rest up too, Haru? I'll update the both of you on our discussion later."

"That… would be great." Haru rubbed her eye sleepily as the energetic writer looked exhausted. "Thank you, Mizuko."

"I must call it quits too," Daisuke announced to the group. "Admittedly, my health hasn't properly recovered since my injury and I need to avoid overexerting myself."

"What about you, Hiroko?" Taira placed a hand on the Ultimate Seeker's shoulder. "You look as though you're about to pass out."

"B-But…"

"Don't worry… I can explain everything to them," Haijo gently reassured his classmate. "You've done enough for the day, so try and get some sleep."

"Okay…"

"Ah! I just realised that I never worked on which room mine was," Hayate exclaimed before giving an exhausted shrug. "Eh, I was thinking of hitting the sack early anyway, so I'll just stay here."

"Ntombi said that she'll call it a day too," Julia said after the graffiti artist pulled away from her ear. "If that's everyone, why don't we head to the dining hall?"

"That will do." Tanzo nodded as he turned to the other venturing Ultimates. "Let's be on our way then."

While Tanzo, Taira, Mizuko, Haijo, Aaron, Touma, Julia, Yajima and Rosamie left for the school, Hiroko went back into the dormitory with the other students. The promise of restful sleep was more than enough to head to her room without a second thought. Muttering a few goodnight wishes to the other Ultimates on the way, Hiroko entered the room, shut the door behind her and collapsed facedown on the bed, almost breaking her glasses in the process. After a brief moment of tossing, turning and getting more comfortable by removing her shoes and glasses, the Ultimate Seeker was finally able to rest her eyes to bring her first day at Guiding Light Academy to an end.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Another chapter down and it happened to be a big one. Aside from the amount of time this took for me to finish this, I was pretty happy with how this turned out it should set up what I hope to be a solid first class trial. Be sure to keep some of the key events here in mind when the time finally comes!

Looking ahead to the next chapter, I am super excited to shine a spotlight on many of the other Ultimate who hung out in the background thus far. Free-time events will begin next time, but who will feature? Hopefully, I'll be able to give most characters a chance to show off in the next through chapters. If any character creators have any ideas or clarifications, they want to run by me, now will be the best time to do so. This includes any ideas for free-time events. Whatever you have in mind, I'd love to hear from you.

Well… I put my entire day off work towards finishing this chapter off and now I can rest easy just as Hiroko is after enduring a prologue and two chapters. Big thanks again to **TheBloperM** and **Despol12** for hard work as beta readers for the chapter. Please leave a review as I enjoy reading each and every one of them and I'll be back soon. (hopefully…)

P.S.: Keep an eye on the second chapter (directly after the prelude) for the addition of the MiniMono sometime in the near future!


	10. Chapter 1: Part 3

**Chapter 1: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, Part 3**

A string of chimes reached every corner of the dormitory building before the monitors sprung to life. The image of Monokuma's cold, unfeeling smirk was promptly broadcast through the monitors in every bedroom. The self-proclaimed headmaster held out a champagne glass, swirling the liquid contents with his wrist as he looked unflinchingly at the camera.

"Gooooood Morning, everyone! I trust that you all had a restful slumber in preparation for this beeeeeautiful day," Monokuma's spoke cheerfully despite his words sounding incredibly grating on the ears. "The time is 8 AM. Nighttime is officially over and all rooms that were closed during that period has now been reopened. Feel free to gather in the dining hall for an official welcome feast since we, uh… forgot to prepare anything yesterday. Oh well! As they say, better late than never! So feast and make merry with each other, knowing in the back of your mind that any trust you may build could come to stab you in the back at any second, or cower in your rooms until your stomachs force you to come out of hiding. The way you spend the day is entirely up to you! No matter what you do, just remember to keep ooooon smiling!"

The broadcast stirred Hiroko from a restless night's sleep as she struggled to keep her heavy eyelids open. As a ray of bright-orange light crept through the bedroom's lone window to signal the start of a new day, the young high school student slowly started to recall pieces of what unfolded the previous days.

Eighteen Ultimate Students… Trapped in a strange school in the middle of nowhere… A killing game where the winner was promised the world.

The more Hiroko remembered, the more she wanted to wrap herself in her blanket and retreat to dreams of her ordinary life before becoming an Ultimate student. But in the end, she figured that hiding away from the others would only cause them to worry. As fearful as she was, the last thing she wanted to do was give her classmates reason to panic and put their lives in even greater risk.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, Hiroko felt the chilling morning air on her skin as she cast aside the warmth that her bedsheets had offered her. Mostly blind, Hiroko effortlessly took hold of her glasses from the bedside table, rubbing her eyes before perching them on the bridge of her nose. The Ultimate Seeker pushed herself to her feet and went to carry out her morning routine as if she hadn't been kidnapped by a trio of psychotic robo-bears.

Expelling a tired yawn, Hiroko made her way to the adjoining private bathroom and began her preparation for the day. She took little notice of the polished black marble countertop surrounding the sink and the impossibly white flooring but was pleased to see a shower and even more so to find that there was no camera set up anywhere in the room.

It wasn't until some twenty minutes after the 8 AM announcement when Hiroko stepped out of her room in a clean set of the same outfit that she wore the previous day. Taking her time to reflect on her first day at Guiding Light Academy, the Ultimate Seeker didn't any other students in the dormitory hallway, likely due to them already making their way to the school for breakfast. But as she closed the door behind her and pondered about where to begin her search for the dining hall, Hiroko quickly realised that she wasn't alone either.

Hiroko's attention was drawn in by a soft squeak sounding from in front of one of the other doors across the corridor. There she saw a small, familiar creature gazing up at her with beady black eyes. The sunlight that shone through the transparent panels that made up much of the hallway's ceiling was enough to make the dark-blue rat easily visible.

"Uh… H-Hi?" Unsure of what she should do next, Hiroko found herself locking eyes with the nose-twitching rodent. The small rat seemed as though it was observing her intensely, unsettling the brunette. She was at least thankful that it wasn't clinging to her sock this time.

"Firo!" The door behind the dark-blue rat was whipped opened as a trenchcoat-wearing student stepped out, his eyes frantically darting over every inch of the hallway floor before finding his palm-sized friend. The boy promptly scooped up the rodent with a sense of relief radiating through his expression. "Come on, bud. You know better than to wander off at a time like this."

"Ah… Rat." The boy didn't even notice Hiroko until she spoke up, the rodent tamer's kind gaze becoming untrusting once he did. "Good morning."

"Aren't you s'posed to be in the dining hall?" Rat leered at the brunette. "All the others already left."

"I must have slept in…" Hiroko spoke reluctantly, figuring that there was no use in being truthful. She didn't like the idea of telling anyone that she spent much of the morning crying. "You're going to join us, right?"

"Why should I? It's not like anyone would be happy to see me." Rat frowned with downcast eyes as Firo scurried under his cloak sleeve.

"I know that things have been intense since we all got here, but everyone has been working hard to get along… well, almost everyone. I'm sure that they'll welcome you there."

While Rat has been willing to distance himself from his classmates, Hiroko wasn't convinced that he was pleased about being isolated from them based on their brief interaction. To the Ultimate Seeker, it didn't seem right to let the boy hide away in his room.

"To be honest, I don't know where to find the dining hall and I'd really appreciate it if you'd help me." Hiroko nervously twirled her index finger around a few strands of her fringe, hoping that Rat would jump at the offer to escort her.

"Well…" Rat rubbed his nose as he looked to the three rat heads that poked out of his coat's collar, the rodents sniffing around the vicinity of his ear as though they were communicating with him. "That Monokuma said that there would be food there, right? I guess I could gather some for me and my buddies."

"S-Sure. That's fine too." It somewhat hurt to see that it wasn't Hiroko's charm that convinced him to join her, but at least she reached the desired outcome. "Um… Do you know where the dining hall is?"

"Nah, but finding it won't be a problem," Rat stated plainly. "If there's food, I can sniff it out."

"Oh… cool." The memory of the boy commenting about Hiroko's scent the previous day came to mind as the girl couldn't control her stilted response. "I'll be following your lead then."

* * *

Stepping out of the dormitory building, Hiroko immediately noticed that the fog from the previous day had blown over as she laid eyes on the pristine blue sky. The image of a beautiful morning was only tainted by the constantly moving light coming from the Visual Distorter. Her first real look at the grounds also revealed how surprisingly lively the school grounds were. The grass surrounding the paved paths were a healthy green as a variety of plants and trees kept the scenery from feeling empty. Even the dormitory building had vibrant rose bushes residing beside the base of its walls. Of course, tall fencing that kept her and the other ultimates imprisoned was impossible to lose sight of, serving as a cruel reminder that, Ultimate Enigma aside, no student was there by choice.

Partway through the short trek to the school, Rat halted, realising that something about their peaceful surroundings was off.

"There's nothing here."

"Nothing?" Hiroko turned to the shorter boy in confusion.

"It's too quiet," the ultimate student elaborated as he scanned the horizon for any sign of movement. "There aren't any birds, no insects, not even any rodents."

Even if her eyesight was below average, Hiroko could often rely on her talent to stumble across whatever she may be looking for. On this occasion, however, nothing was revealed to her after several seconds of watching and listening. Nothing, aside from the three small rats that were poking their heads over their friend's cloak collar. Even now, the bespectacled girl didn't have a full understanding of her so-called talent. Perhaps, disappointingly, her gift did deliver after all.

"At least you still have your friends with you."

"Yeah… At least I do." Rat peered down at his three companions as his entire demeanour begun to soften. The unusual boy extended a finger towards the critters as they lined up, side-by-side, standing on their hind legs. Hiroko watched as the tamer affectionately scratched each rodent's chin and tummy with a small grin on his face. Witnessing the joyful interaction between the quartet left Hiroko with a warm feeling in her chest, though it also left her feeling lonely.

If only she could be back home with her aunt or be chatting to her friends at the café by their middle school. What made it even sadder was that it felt as though those relationships that she built and memories that came with it were made in another lifetime. Back then, she was just an average student. Now, she's an Ultimate trapped in a mystery school with a bunch of gifted strangers. It made Hiroko feel so much more disconnected from her past… and it terrified her.

"You doing okay?" Rat broke the silence upon catching Hiroko in her daze, causing the latter to jarringly snap back into reality.

"Yeah," Hiroko responded a little too quickly for it to come off as natural. "I mean, this place still gives me the creeps but there's nothing to worry about."

Despite doing her best to put on a brave face, she could tell that Rat's gaze could see right through her. To the gifted seeker's relief, the boy gave the smallest of nods and continued towards the school. It was difficult to tell whether Rat was being considerate or if he just didn't care to press her, but Hiroko was happy enough to not dwell on that thought.

The pair reached the entrance hall of the main building and navigated down the only one of the four corridors that Hiroko had yet to explore. The Ultimate Seeker examined the labels above the doors as she ventured further, discovering the infirmary, an unmarked room and another empty classroom. As she followed Rat towards a wall of yellow-and-black "KEEP OUT" tape blocking access to the end of the corridor, a beanie-wearing figure stepped out of the nearby doorway with a blue plastic bag in hand.

"Oh! Good morning, Mako." The boy's unsubtle blonde-and-magenta hair visible beneath his headwear was enough for Hiroko to promptly identify the student. The grouchy artist halted upon hearing the girl's call, not bothering to restrain his groan as the girl approached him. "Is that the dining hall behind you?"

"Yeah." Mako brushed off Hiroko's greeting, passing by the Ultimate Seeker giving her nothing more than that single word.

"Wait! You're not staying for breakfast?" Hiroko called after him. Annoyed, Mako turned to face her.

"Why would I? I got what I came for just here." Mako lifted the bag in his hand slightly, bringing it to the girl's attention. "And don't even start with the pleading. My mind's been made up."

Not allowing Hiroko to get another word in, the artist continued towards the entrance hall at a brisk pace. Watching the unfriendly teenager take his leave, the brunette felt frustrated that she wasn't even given a chance to have a decent conversation with the artist. While she wasn't the sort to be eager about talking to those that she was unfamiliar with, she didn't appreciate his rudeness.

"You coming?" Without her realising, Rat had made his way to the entrance to the dining hall. He must have been incredibly quiet for Hiroko to not have heard him.

"Yeah. On my way."

Rat entered the dining hall ahead of Hiroko before she reached the door. Setting eyes on its interior for the first time, Hiroko saw that the long room was well-kept. The cleanliness was pair for the course and the decent amount of sunlight shining through the windows positioned high along the far light blue wall made the dining hall that little bit more pleasant to stand in.

"Look who's finally dragged herself out of bed!" Taira called out while seated behind the dark, narrow table. The other students were grouped around the table as a few of them turned their heads to face her. Unsurprisingly, the Ultimate Enigma wasn't alongside them. "Did you sleep well, Roko?"

"Uh… I did. Thanks for asking." The Ultimate Seeker was a little taken aback, not just by the new nickname that Taira sprung on her but from how… relaxed everyone seemed. It was only a day ago when everyone was giving each other nervous glances as they were all enveloped in the tense atmosphere.

"Thought so," Hayate grinned brightly, leaning back on his chair far enough to lift the front two legs off the ground. "We came by your room earlier but didn't hear back from you. You had me worried for a while there."

"Oh! I didn't mean-!"

"Don't mind him, Hun," Mizuko interjected, smiling reassuringly at Hiroko while shooting a fierce glare at the renown prankster. "It's not your fault that he gets all panicked for no reason. He even said that he saw you enter your room the other day."

"True… That's my bad." Hayate sheepishly lowered his eyes toward the plate in front of him.

"Anyway, you arrived at a good time." Rosamie peered at Hiroko through her thin-rimmed glasses behind her plate, sparsely covered with bite-sized fish pieces. "The food only arrived a few minutes ago."

Stretching the entire length of the table was a line of breakfast dishes. Anything that Hiroko could have imagined and more was in arms reach and stocked in copious amounts. In truth, Hiroko was surprised by the variety and impressed by the seemingly high quality of the meals.

"It all came from Mamakuma or whatever its name is." Daisuke chewed on a piece of his jam-covered toast almost reluctantly. "While I don't like the idea of eating whatever any of those bears give us, we're not given much choice aside from choosing to starve."

"A-Actually…" Miyako spoke up as she clutched at her glass of strawberry milk. "I noticed that there are plenty of fresh ingredients in the kitchen. I-If you'd rather it… I could try preparing some meals for us."

"What?! I'll be able to have a meal cooked for me by Miyako?!" Mizuko's eyes sparkled as her imagination took hold of her. She was in the middle of eating a slice of pepperoni pizza of all things. "Ooooh, my mouth is already beginning to water!"

"I-I-I can't say it will be that good…" The puppeteer stuttered. "I'm not used to preparing food for this many people."

"It's no problem! I can lend a hand if you're good with that." Haru put down the novel that she was previously preoccupied with. "Oh, but you can say no if you want. I'm… not the best at stuff like that so I might just end up causing trouble for you."

"I-It's alright…I'd like that." Miyako smiled sweetly with downcast eyes, maintaining that look of happiness while many of the others went back to their breakfast.

As the room fell to relative silence, Hiroko made her way to a vacant seat and claimed it for herself, placing a single slice of French toast on the place in front of her as she did. Feeling her hunger begin to subside, it was strange to the brunette how normal eating with her peers felt. Seeing the students conversing in groups with some Ultimates even joking as though they'd known each other for years.

Mizuko began prodding Haru's cheek trying to pry her attention from her novel as Miyako watched on nervously. Julia heaped praise on Aaron's hair while running her fingers through the long, silver strands as the fencer continued to eat, scowling but remaining quiet and he tried to bear the unwanted attention. Watching on, Ntombi was silently bursting with excitement as her pencil feverishly swept across the page, her eyes darting between Aaron's hair and her sketchbook.

On the other end of the table, Hayate had joined Rat as the latter fed his rodent friends that were sniffing around the table. Daisuke, who was seated nearby, complained as bits of Hayate's food that tossed in the direction of the three rats ended up on the mancala player's plate. Haijo and Yajima were seated a little further away as the two picked Tanzo's brain about his knowledge about nutrition that promoted muscle growth.

It was as though everyone just became friends overnight and while it left her with a warm feeling, there was also an eerie sense of familiarity watching everyone interact with each other. Could it be that this wasn't the first time that they hung out like this?

"Hey… We need to talk."

Hiroko was startled by the sternly whispered words directed into her ear as Touma leaned over her. The actor's eyes remained on the food set out on the table as though he was pondering over what to grab, disguising his interaction with her from anyone who may have been looking in their direction.

"Once we've eaten, let's meet up in the empty classroom. You know the one."

Touma returned to his seat after placing a couple of waffles on his plate as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Hiroko noticed that he didn't look at her even once as he ate quietly alongside Taira and Rosamie as he did whatever he could not to draw any suspicion. It appeared to have worked, but it also made the brunette more curious about what he wanted to talk about. Touma had always seemed to wary of the killing game so maybe he learned of another clue? What else could it possibly be?

It was then when Hiroko recalled her discussion with him outside of the dormitory the other day… and that was when the blood suddenly rushed to her face.

"Hey Roko, you're looking a little unwell. Are you okay there?" Taira inquired as she looked at the green-eyed girl's red face from across the table.

"H-Huh?!" Hiroko scrambled for a response as the attention only fuelled her embarrassment even further. "O-Of course! I'm just feeling a bit hot… because of the room! It's warmer in here than I expected." The smile of Taira's face dampened as a rare expression of seriousness was worn by the usually upbeat girl.

"Well… if there's something bugging you, you'd tell me, right?"

"Yeah…" Hiroko could tell that she'd been caught lying. Still, she didn't want to give any reason for Taira to have any concerns. "Trust me, I'm okay. Really."

"…If you say so." Taira's smile returned as she took another mouthful of her pancake that was heavily coated with sugar. "Anyway, could you help me track down some salt in the kitchen once you're free?"

"Sure." Hiroko felt a smile of her own forming as Taira changed the subject. "Are you already preparing to cook another meal?"

"Nah! I couldn't cook to save my life, not anything that doesn't come from a can anyway." The tattooed girl smiled as though she was boasting, to Hiroko's confusion. "I'm going to create a spirit barrier that will keep out Monokuma and those other demons. It will need a lot of salt to cover my room so I'll need everything I can get my hands on!"

"But we'll need that cooking!" Hiroko exclaimed. "You can't use all of it!"

"All that salt is used for is to make food taste better, right? I'm sure that no one will notice the difference once they've gotten used to it." Taira sounded desperate as the Ultimate Seeker kept her disapproving gaze on her. "Please, Roko! I'm begging you here! BEGGING YOU!"

Breakfast continued with a ruckus as it served to many as a nice distraction from the dire situation that the Ultimates were forced into. If everyone could spend their days like this than maybe, just maybe, everyone can resist Monokuma's influence and survive until help arrives.

* * *

It took quite some time for Hiroko and Taira to agree on the amount of salt that the exorcist could grab from the kitchen. It turned out that the salt wasn't hard to find as it all resided in a cabinet that held all the spices. Rather than needing Hiroko's talent, Taira may have been looking to get someone's approval before raiding the kitchen herself. After some tough negotiations, Taira returned to her room with just one large shaker of salt with the plan being that more will be taken as the ingredients are, hopefully, restocked. Unfortunately for Hiroko, she also ended up "owing her one" as part of the deal with Taira. What that could mean was anyone's guess.

Once that was sorted, Hiroko turned her attention to Touma's request to meet with him in one of the empty classrooms. While the stage actor didn't specify which one, there was only one that came to mind was the classroom where she first met him, located on the second floor by the library.

As she climbed the stairs to the second floor, she felt her heart beating at an uncontrollable tempo. Suddenly, Hiroko felt as though she was like a heroine in several of the romance novels that she read as a middle school student. She was about to meet up with a boy… in an empty classroom. Sure, his talent was cooler than hers and he was out of her league in just about every regard but…

The brunette had to stop herself a few steps short of the classroom and take in several deep breaths to ease her nervousness. Just because she was about to walk into the setting of a tired cliché, it didn't mean that he was going to confess his feelings for her or anything crazy like that. After all, Hiroko knew that there were more important things to talk about.

Taking another minute to get her thoughts in order, Hiroko set her eyes on the classroom door and forcefully slide the door open before she had the chance to overwhelm herself with her thoughts again. Sure enough, Touma stood at the back of the room, looking blankly at the barbwire-covered windows before the sound of Hiroko's entrance caught his attention. Regardless of her best efforts to keep her cool, the teenaged girl felt her heart beating against her chest as the boy set his eyes on her.

"H-Hi!" The volume of Hiroko's voice was barely below the point of shouting, a clear sign that her nerves had an unyielding hold of the bespectacled student. "I… hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"It's fine… I just got here." Touma shot Hiroko a reassuring smile. It was quickly apparent to her that there was something different about the renowned actor. The charisma that he had often exuded during the previous day was no longer there, leading to his calm and confident demeanour to become more vulnerable and uncertain.

After a shaky silence, Touma stepped away from the windows and strode into the centre of the classroom. His eyes darted to and from Hiroko as he appeared unsure of where to look until he closed them. Then, after breathing a long exhale, he firmly fixed his gaze on the shorter girl as though he was relying on some newly found confidence.

"Hiroko…"

"Y-Yes!" The Ultimate Seeker almost walked into the nearest desk as moved towards Touma in a fluster. Closing the distance between them until they were within arm's reach, Hiroko looked at the blue-eyed boy expectantly.

"I've decided… that it's about time that I start being serious."

"You mean…" Hiroko's voice trailed off as Touma kept his solemn gaze unflinching into her eyes.

"What I'm about to tell you… is for your ears only." Touma glanced at the camera, then over at the open door leading to the adjoining storage room. "So, er… if you don't mind."

Initially, Hiroko didn't feel comfortable with returning to the dark, enclosed space where she'd found herself trapped the previous day. However, seeing Touma pull the door open with negligible resistance to reveal the dimly lit interior helped her set aside her fears to an extent. As the neatly dressed boy waited by the entrance, the jittery girl muttered quiet words of thanks before entering ahead of Touma.

"You're… not messing with me again, right? You know how much I hate-" As Hiroko kept her back to her classmate, a bad feeling arose from her gut as Touma wordlessly shut the door behind him. The narrow room had a few oil lamps as the only sources of lighting, providing a chilling atmosphere once the sunlight from the classroom was blocked out.

Looking back to Touma presented Hiroko with a terrifying image of the young actor. His head was bowed, the shadow from the mask atop of his head casting a shadow that hid his eyes from view. Stone-faced, reached for something hidden behind him before pulling out a small object that was wedged in his belt. It wasn't until the silver object was pointed at Hiroko's chest when she realised that Touma was holding a handgun.

"Wha-!" Overcome with terror and confusion, the schoolgirl felt every joint and muscle in her body freeze up. Why? How did-? When did-? Hiroko felt her falter as it fed her nothing but broken thoughts. As her eyes widened, Hiroko finally understood that she'd been led into a trap. She wanted to beg and plead for her life, but the quivering girl was unable to form the words to do so.

Finally, after what felt closer to an entirety than a couple of seconds, the expressionless actor pulled the trigger. Hiroko didn't take notice of the noise of the gunshot before feeling the impact on the uppermost part of her sternum. She imagined herself get launched backwards from the force of the bullet as her blood spurting out in buckets through the hole where the shot pierced her skin. She saw herself chocking on the blood as it entered her lungs as her consciousness grew rapidly weaker.

Yet when she looked down at her chest as she struggled for breath, she found that she was still standing. The blue sash and magenta shirt remained intact as the soft rubber bullet dropped harmlessly by her feet. Shaken but breathing, Hiroko looked to Touma in disbelief.

"You failed." The Ultimate Stage Actor had a mixture of frustration and dejection in his eyes as he lowered the toy gun.

"Huh… Failed…?" A pale Hiroko was still in a dreamlike state, struggling to comprehend Touma after an incredibly stressful series of events.

"Didn't you have any concerns when I asked for you to meet me in secret? Or when I asked you to enter this room ahead of me?" Touma restrained his voice from escalating into an outburst, though the exasperation in his voice was as clear as day. "You practically handed me your life on a-"

The next thing Hiroko knew, she had launched herself at the boy and stuck him with a vicious open-palmed slap to the face. The sharp sound of the impact resonated within the bookshelf-covered walls as Touma turned his head due to the strike, revealing the red mark that the girl's hand left behind.

"What the hell did you do that for, you jerk! I thought that I was going to die!" Teary-eyed, Hiroko yelled at the brown-haired ultimate. "You shouldn't mess with people like that! That… That's taking it too far!"

"That wasn't my intention," Touma stated firmly, rubbing his stinging cheek beneath where his mask sat. "I'm sorry I had to put you through that, truly… But I had to show you… Show how others could manipulate you, how quickly someone could take your life. As unpleasant as it was, I had to show you."

The silence between the students grew heavy as Hiroko felt her tears run down her face uncontrollably. While traumatised by the boy's insensitive test, the girl's tears were a sign of her pent-up sorrow mounted on her from the stress of the killing games starting to overflow. As the Ultimate Seeker wept, Touma awkwardly watched on, knowing that there was nothing he could do to console her.

"Why… couldn't you have just warned me… warned me without… doing this," Hiroko managed to stammer between sobs. "I would have listened."

"Can you say with absolute certainty that you would take my advice?" Touma asked pointedly. "As you just confirmed for me, you're quick to trust others. There will always be a real risk that you could still trust the words of someone who wanted to take your life, even if I was to warn you more gently."

"Maybe you're right… Still… Did you really have to toy with my emotions like that? Was threatening to kill me not bad enough?! I… I cannot believe you!" Even as Hiroko started to grasp some of Touma's reasoning, there was a hollow feeling in her chest that was more insufferable than any physical wound, something that was caused by the betrayal of her feelings.

"I'm not treating this like some sort of game!" Touma exclaimed, his icy cool composure cracking momentarily while bearing a saddened expression. "It's fine if you begin to hate me after what I put you through, but I want you to understand that I'm doing this for your survival."

As Touma waited for a response, Hiroko sank to the floor as rested her back against one of the bookshelves in the room. As the bespectacled girl fought back her tears while drying her face, the Ultimate Stage Actor sat beside her.

"Did you really… do that for me?"

"It's not the only reason but it's the biggest one," Touma admitted. "I also wanted to see if you could earn my trust."

"Your… trust?"

"Just as you are in here alone with me, I am alone with you," Touma clarified. "I'm not the only one with the perfect opportunity to kill the other without anyone knowing."

"What are you saying?!" Hiroko snapped her head towards the boy in astonishment. "There's no way I would-!"

"I know… but that was merely based on my belief in you." While the intensity in Touma's voice had diminished since sitting beside her, that sense of conviction that he had always conveyed remained strong. "To settle any lingering doubts, I wanted to put my life on the line to test my faith in you… and you did not betray it."

"Of course, I wouldn't…" Hiroko bowed her head, looking at her trembling hands. "I… trust you, after all." Touma jolted his gaze towards his classmate.

"You see? That's why you have me so worried about you." It was the first time that Hiroko had taken him off-guard for their entire discussion, the surprise ringing clearly in his voice. With a sigh, Touma looked back toward an oil lamp on the other side of the room before muttering to himself. "Trusting me, even after the stunt I just pulled on you."

"That's just how I am…"

Ever since the series of accidents that lead to the deaths of her parents and very nearly her own, many of her old classmates chose to shun her. Outside of a few friends that she was fortunate to cross paths with, she was treated as a pariah across her entire school out of fear that a similar tragedy could befall them. What made it so heartbreaking for Hiroko was that she couldn't blame them, no matter what her friends told her. She couldn't quite place the reason why, but distrusting others never seemed to come easily to the young girl since that terrible incident.

"You're really something else."

"Huh?" Hiroko barely heard Touma as he spoke softly while looking into a dark corner of the room. The actor was smiling though she wasn't certain that his words were intended to be a compliment.

"Our test isn't the only reason I invited you here," Touma continued before Hiroko could press him for clarification. "There's one other thing we need to discuss while we're out of earshot of Monokuma… The status of the escape plan that Tanzo, Haijo and I have been working on."

"You mean a plan to switch off that visual distorter keeping the outside world from finding us?" Hiroko asked eagerly, to which Touma shook his head.

"Not quite."

"Oh… It's not?" Hiroko blinked, slightly taken aback. "I thought that Haijo told everyone about the tower so we could disable it somehow."

"Well as far as Monokuma and the board are aware of, that is still the plan. However, it's only a front."

"Front? Like a fake plan?" This time, Touma smirked before giving Hiroko a firm nod.

"When the information about the visual distorter got out, naturally, the bears would be wary of any sort of assault we made on it," the blue-eyed boy explained. "We're going to use their expectation to our advantage and carry out our true plan before they can respond to it."

"I see. That's clever of you guys."

"Don't be too quick with the praise. What this 'true plan' of ours will be hasn't been decided yet. Breaching the fences would my first choice but the method is yet to be determined," Touma spoke frankly, visually displeased with how little work had been done.

"What about that girl who's working with Monokuma?" Hiroko asked as the Ultimate Enigma came to mind. "Will you try and get her to escape with the rest of us?" Touma frowned as briefly looked to the room's exit.

"We hadn't considered her as anything other than an obstacle, truth be told."

"But what if she's being blackmailed, or if Monokuma did something to make her obey him?" Hiroko's concern took over as she pushed herself back onto her feet. "She could be just as innocent as we are!"

"I see your point, but most of the others are convinced that she's just as bad as the whoever is responsible for putting us here, if the two doesn't happen to be the same person." Touma remained seated on the floor as he looked up at the gifted seeker. "Causing conflict could create a bigger divide in our group than what we already have. Not to mention that exposing her to any details will be too risky. If she blows the whistle to the bears, then that's the end of our plans."

Hiroko couldn't quite put her finger on it, but her willingness to trust others aside, there was something about that girl that seemed off. Would the mastermind choose to reveal themselves as soon as the killing was announced? There's zero doubt that it would work in their favour if they kept quiet, so would that mean she's not really the mastermind? But if so, why is she choosing to act hostile towards others? Sure, she could be a part of one of the terrorist cells that happened to be brought into the killing game. But if she had no hand in its creation why did she know Hiroko's name? It wasn't like she was famous, like Touma.

As the Ultimate Seeker struggled to make heads or tails over who the Ultimate Enigma could possibly be, Touma stood upright while dusting off his pant legs.

"If it bothers you so much… I'll see if I could get an understanding of this 'enigma' girl."

"You will?" Hiroko asked, suddenly worried about what the boy's investigation would entail. "It won't be dangerous, will it?"

"I can't promise that it won't be, but I won't do anything reckless. With luck, prodding one of the bears could bring some information to light." Touma flashed Hiroko one of his charming smiles, most likely in an effort to ease her worries, before reverting to the same serious expression he wore for much of their discussion. "In the meantime, you can't repeat any of this information in locations where cameras are installed, or while Enigma or any of the bears are present."

Hiroko was quick to give the boy a forceful nod, understanding how much was riding on their escape plan be carried out successfully.

"Understood! I'll make sure not to say a word about it! So… what can I do to help?"

"We have to maintain high morale within the group to have a chance of fending off Monokuma's influence, at least long enough for us to carry out the escape. Haijo felt that you're one of the students best suited to help us achieve this, so he pushed for you to help out."

"Really…?" Hiroko questioned, surprised to hear that the ice hockey star thought that highly of her. She had never thought of herself as someone that was good at comforting or motivating others, yet Haijo seemed to believe that he could do it.

"You don't think you can do it?" Touma could sense the girl's hesitation, though Hiroko immediately tried covering it up by showing whatever resolve she could muster.

"It's not that! I… just wouldn't know where to start."

"Just socialising with the other ultimates will be enough, for now," Touma reassured the brunette. "Most of them are trying their best to keep up their spirits so you won't be alone. Just… don't forget to put your safety above all else. There's no telling what others are truly thinking."

"I don't have a problem with talking to the others, but… I could still help come up with the escape plan."

"Nice of you to offer but there's no need," Touma smiled as he gently turned down Hiroko's offer. "Taira has already agreed to help me, though I'll come to you if I'm in need your assistance."

It then occurred to Hiroko that all those times that she saw Touma talking to the exorcist after the killing game's announcement was the two of them working to devise the escape plan. The brunette wasn't sure what made him go to Taira of all people, but after spending much of her investigation time with her the day before, Hiroko believed that she was more reliable than first impressions would suggest.

"So… no hard feelings?" As Touma sent an uneasy smile Hiroko's way, memories of the cruel test she was subjected to came rushing back to the schoolgirl, leading her to shoot a bitter glare back at her tormentor.

"…I'm still mad at you."

"I said that I'm sorry, didn't I?" Touma chuckled nervously as he scratched his head beneath where his mask was perched. "If this is about me leading you on… well…"

"Don't you even start!" It was less than 24 hours since Hiroko met the actor, but she could already tell that he was preparing to tease her again.

"Even if I'm REALLY being serious this time?" Hiroko narrowed her eyes as her lips form an irritated pout. "Okay, I get it. You're not in the mood."

Touma extended an arm towards the girl before placing an open palm over her ahoge, lightly ruffling her hair. Hiroko's initial thought of smacking the taller boy's hand away didn't transition to action as she felt her anger melt away. She averted her eyes from Touma as a sense of discomfort arose in her chest, and yet the interaction put her tired mind at ease as a gentle warmth coursed through her body.

"Stay safe, you hear?" With those softly spoken words, Touma withdrew from the blushing girl after several seconds before pulling the nearby door open and exiting the room.

With the light from the classroom now pouring into the room, Hiroko started to breathe more easily. With Touma now out of sight, the Ultimate Seeker's annoyance at the stage actor returned to her. She accepted that what he did was out of concern for her, but there had to have been a better way to tell her to look after herself than to hold her at "fake gunpoint". It was like he didn't even care about what she thought of him. While she may have been better off not dwelling over it, the thought of it being possible stung. Just a little bit.

Wanting to set her mind on something other than the befuddling boy, Hiroko recalled her role in the escape plan. The thought the ultimates' morale being dependant on her actions were beyond daunting but if talking to the others was all that she was expected to do, then she'll have no choice to do what she can.

With that in mind, Hiroko stepped out of the storage room and into the brightly-lit classroom.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Here we are with a new chapter within two months of the previous one! I realise that that may not be worth celebrating as it has still taken a while but It's an improvement on the time it took me to release new chapters in the past.

I know that I talked-up the inclusion of free time events for this chapter, but I seem to have an annoying habit of underestimating the length of most of the scenes I write. As a result, I ended up moving the first cluster of events into the next chapter to avoid blowing up the word count to a crazy amount. It also meant that I could come back with an update to the story sooner, so I think this works out for the best.

Once again, shout outs go to **Despol12** and **TheBloperM** for their highly appreciated efforts to avoid my writing from being as error-ridden as they could be. I happened to look back at the first part of my prologue and was so shocked by the number of mistakes I made that I had to replace it on two separate occasions. It made me realise how important they are to the quality of my work and I'll always be thankful for that.

One final thing before I wrap this up. If you look back at the chapter select of this story, you should find a chapter titled "MiniMono v1". This is where the contents of the device will be available for view. As the more FTEs are unveiled and as the story goes on, the chapter will update to provide a variety of information about the killing game rules and the ultimates participating in it.

And with that, I'm off. Look after yourselves and those around you in these crazy times and I hope to be back soon with the next part.


End file.
